Whether you’re into fast paced adrenalin sports, sniffing out the best culinary fare or experiencing a gentler pace, Kinglake Victoria has every intrepid explorer covered. From fresh local produce, fine wines, forest walks, secluded camping spots, picnic spots, horse riding and mountain biking trails, and wildlife at every turn - and all only 50 minutes from Melbourne!
Situated on the majestic slopes of the Great Dividing Range, Kinglake National Park is the largest, and closest national park to Melbourne, making it an ideal spot for a day trip or a weekend getaway.
Highlights include Bollygum Park Adventure Playground, Wirrawilla Rainforest Walk, Masons Falls and Frank Thomson Reserve.
Kinglake, Victoria: a slice of nature with a sprinkle of serenity.
HIGHLIGHTS
BOLLYGUM ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND
Step into a storybook setting full of wonder, awe and enchantment at Bollygum Park, Kinglake. This two-and-a-half-acre wonderland, based around the award-winning children’s book ‘Bollygum’ by Garry Fleming, features a climbing wall, monkey bars, rope bridges, flying fox, wave slide, bird nest swings, dual metal slide and an architecturally designed skate park, all set within natural bushland.
WIRRAWILLA RAINFOREST WALK
Unleash your inner Tinkerbell and feel right at home here within the fern gullies and sassafras trees in the Toolangi State Forest. This enchanting walking trail takes in the sounds and scents of the cool, temperate rain forests, providing a magical experience for the young at heart. The boardwalk circuit is a gentle easy walk (approximately 2km in length), so a great one for families with little ones in tow, including the four-legged variety. Just beware of those rowdy goblins!
FRANK THOMSON RESERVE
Lady Stonehavens Lookout is located within the Frank Thomson Reserve, and boasts an elevation of 630 metres, offering spectacular views of Melbourne’s skyline rising from the southern plains and the rolling hills of the Yarra Valley to the east.
EAT & DRINK
Kinglake Distillery
Kinglake Distillery, hard to find, impossible to forget.
Visiting Kinglake Distillery is to immersive yourself in the taste and processes involved in making one of Australia’s most distinctive new world single malts.
Kinglake Distillery set out to make a single malt that was discernibly different from other Australian whiskies, something where regardless of barrel ageing, the characteristic Kinglake spirit can be picked out.
The most important Kinglake variable that allows us to make a very distinctive spirit is their use of local Spring Water. Chyser Creek rises from a natural spring located on the distillery property and is used untreated and unfiltered.
They are one of only a handful of distilleries using open ferments for their whisky wash. They are surrounded by towering Mountain Ash, Messmate and Peppermint gumtrees. The open ferments and open-door distilling allows these natural pollens and yeasts to become part of the fermentation process.
The final piece of the jigsaw in translating these local features into a new-make spirit is their approach to distillation and the final cut runs deep into the tails or feints. This not only means that they harvest the maximum impact from the chocolate and peat in their four-grain mash-bill but that all the richness and depth from foibles of using unfiltered water and open fermentations are given a chance to shine.
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Rest and Restore Kinglake Weekend Retreat
A Weekend of genuine rest in the Kinglake Ranges.
Just over an hour from Melbourne, tucked into 50 acres of open fields and native bushland, this is a weekend built around one simple idea: real rest surrounded by trees, wildlife and space, with nowhere else you need to be.
You’ll practice gentle Embodied Yoga each morning with your host Ellen, looking out over the bush, with movement adapted to your body rather than the other way around. In the evenings slow right down with Restorative Somatic Rest and Sound Healing, settling into bolsters and blankets and giving yourself permission to simply be.
Between sessions there’s plenty of space to swim in the solar-heated pool, walk the private bush tracks, curl up in the library, or do nothing at all.
All plant-based meals are provided and lovingly cooked by co-host Ede. Ellen and Ede love holding space for people to gather around a table, eat delicious food and have real conversations.
You’ll leave with more than memories of a lovely weekend away. You’ll leave with a little more awareness of what your body actually needs, and the practices to bring that awareness home with you.
STAY
Cheeky Fox Retreat
Cheeky Fox Retreat is a place for wellbeing retreats and group getaways for up to 12 people in the Kinglake Ranges.
Nestled on 50 private acres in the beautiful Kinglake Ranges, just over an hour from Melbourne, Cheeky Fox Retreat offers a tranquil escape from the bustling city for groups and retreats of all kinds for up to 12 people.
As a retreat venue, the stunning mountain views and peaceful farm setting make it perfect for hosting yoga, meditation, and wellbeing retreats, and is an inspiring location for craft and reading retreats, business planning and professional development workshops. Your hosts would be delighted to help you create your perfect retreat – contact them for an information pack or to arrange a site visit so you can see if Cheeky Fox Retreat is right for your next retreat.
Cheeky Fox Retreat is also a beautiful place to gather with friends and family, to celebrate a milestone occasion or a girl’s weekend away. Whether you want to lounge by the private pool, curl up with a book in the library, enjoy a movie night in the private cinema, cook up gourmet meals in the well-equipped kitchen, or have their private chef do the cooking for you, Cheeky Fox Retreat has everything you need for a stress-free getaway.