OFFICIAL VISITOR GUIDE Bright & Surrounds Bright • Dinner Plain • Harrietville • Mount Beauty • Myrtleford Welcome Need to unwind? Or itching for an adrenaline-fuelled weekend? Perhaps you’re looking to sample the region’s abundant local produce, explore our rare alpine environment, go shopping and relax at the spa, or a little bit of everything in one. Contents Whatever has brought you here, we’ve got you 3 Map covered. Pull up a chair, order yourself a coffee, and let’s get started. We’re about to tell you where to 5 Our History find our region’s best experiences so you can tailor- make your escape exactly how you imagined. 7 Walking & Trail Running 9 Cycling 10 Water Activities 11 National Parks 13 Local Produce, Food & Drink 15 Seasons 17 48 Hour Itineraries 33 More information Calendar Events Liftout see middle pages Centenary Park, Bright 1 BRIGHT & SURROUNDS OFFICIAL VISITOR GUIDE visitbrightandsurrounds.com.au 2 TO WANGARATTA TO ALBURY TO ALBURY Gapsted D K R EE Bright Harrietville R K C G I N E Myrtleford NI UN W Country living at its best, Where native forests and R A V Ovens A Bright and its nearby villages of murmuring rivers weave L L HAPP E Porepunkah and Wandiligong seamlessly with European Y VALLEY RD Y H W are a hive of fine local produce, tree-lined streets and an B Y U F bars, cafes, boutique shops, historic village to create F A L markets and festivals. Set in the a tranquil retreat. Tucked O R Mount fertile Ovens Valley, there’s little into the foothills of Mounts I V Porepunkah E wonder Bright – bursting with Feathertop and Hotham, and R 1185m R D autumnal hues, winter mists, with wonderfully preserved spring florals or summer shade pioneer and gold mining – will have you coming back history, Harrietville and Porepunkah Tawonga year after year. its extensive walking trail network is a sensory delight. MOUNT Mount Bogong BUFFALO Bright P MOUNT GA BEAUTY 1986m NATIONAL GA Dinner Plain ON PONDAGE PARK TAW Mount D One of Australia’s truly unique Mount Beauty R LAKE Tawonga South Buffalo LAKE O CATANI 1723m L architectural villages, Dinner Presided over by Mount BUFFALO A F F U Wandiligong Plain defines its own alpine style Bogong and its winter snow- B Mount Beauty T N ALPINE U inspired by its surrounding capped peaks, Mount Beauty O NATIONAL M G PARK history and landscape. Whether is an outdoor enthusiast’s R E A covered with wild flowers or dream. This small town T A L Bogong P knee-deep in snow, a drive on the way to Falls Creek I N E up Australia’s highest road to transports you back in time R D this rare and vastly beautiful with its quaint 1940s workers’ environment offers up one cottages, rural pastures, of the country’s most jaw bushwalks, horse rides, fly Falls Creek dropping bucket-list views. fishing and bike park, served Mount Feathertop up with local Kiewa Valley 1922m wine and craft brews. Harrietville ROCKY VALLEY LAKE B O G O Myrtleford ( C N Bright & lo G s e H Rich in Italian culture, mining d IG d H u P history and agriculture, ri LA ng IN Mount w S RD Myrtleford has an eclectic Surrounds inte Hotham r) 1861m edge you’ll find hard to resist. Hotham Anglers From the iconic tobacco kilns Heights Rest of a by-gone era, rail-trail rides to local wineries, and some of the region’s best pizza, coffee and deli produce, a stop in Myrtleford with its ALPINE NATIONAL Dinner Plain mesmerising views of Mount PARK 0 10km Buffalo is a must. SCALE ALPINE NATIONAL PARK Omeo D E R N IN LP T A EA GR TO BAIRNSDALE 3 BRIGHT & SURROUNDS OFFICIAL VISITOR GUIDE visitbrightandsurrounds.com.au 4 Gladstone Mine workers 1902 Our History St Bernards 1923 Postman Donald Gow Mt Buffalo Chalet 1910 Buckland Dredge 1900 Shamrock adit Our region’s first Ancient sites, including Buckland and Ovens Valleys, Mount Buffalo Chalet in the Ovens Valley, with farms of the 1950s to 1980s peoples are the rock art, tools and attracting thousands to (pictured above) was built in 36 cranking away by 1936. have since disappeared – middens, offer a glimpse the valleys, including large 1910 and the mountain was The Tronoh Dredge at giving way to hops, nuts Dhudhuroa and into the long histories of German, American and home to the country’s first Harrietville, which operated and cattle – the vineyards Waywurru, whose the first peoples in the Chinese settlements. They ski lift. between 1942 and 1954, was introduced to the area have Country stretches Bright & Surrounds area, were hard days, and it was the largest gold dredge in since developed into the although little has been around this time in 1857, that Over in the Kiewa Valley, the Southern Hemisphere Alpine Valleys Wine Region, from Omeo to recorded of their stories the Buckland Riot broke out settlers began to lay claim to and by the time it closed, the which is increasingly being Wangaratta and the or of their interaction with in which Chinese miners grazing lands, driven south Ovens had become the most recognised for its production Mitta Mitta to King early settlers. Fortunately, were brutally attacked in an from the Murray River region heavily dredged river in all of of traditional favourites like by drought. By the turn of Valley. surviving elders from the attempt to drive them from Australia. Chardonnay, Shiraz and Dhudhuroa and Waywurru the area. the century, a butter factory Cabernet Sauvingnon as Nation continue to live in had opened on the site of the Cattle grazing and well as exciting Italian-grape the region today. By the end of that century, Tawonga Store, with dairy agriculture gradually varieties such as Sangiovese, the snow-covered peaks farming remaining a key replaced mining, and with Barbera, Nebbiolo and Newspaper reports record that surround the valleys industry for the Kiewa today. an influx of Europeans – Vermentino. sightings of King Billy had begun to attract particularly Italians – during travelling traditionally tourists, with an area Back in the Ovens, small-time the World War II years, a through these parts in 1859, around Mount Buffalo gold prospecting had ran its new agricultural history course by 1901 and the first seven years after gold- Gorge being designated began to take hold. While Images Bright & District rush fever took hold in the a National Park in 1898. gold dredge began operation the flourishing tobacco Historical Society 5 BRIGHT & SURROUNDS OFFICIAL VISITOR GUIDE visitbrightandsurrounds.com.au 6 The Razorback, Mount Feathertop Walking & Trail Running LOCAL FAVOURITES: • Reform Hill, Myrtleford • Canyon Walk, Bright • Riverside Walk, Harrietville • Gorge Walk, Mount Beauty • The Horn, Mount Buffalo • The Razorback, Mount Feathertop Who doesn’t love a For a challenge, strap on Walks Guide your hiking boots and relaxing riverside Grab a copy of the Bright climb one of our many & Surrounds Walks stroll, or a short mountains, like Mount & Trails Guide from Bogong – Victoria’s hill-climb up to one of the accredited highest mountain – or a breathtaking information centres in up to the granite horn Bright, Myrtleford or lookout, like of Mount Buffalo. All our Mount Beauty for an Myrtleford’s Reform trails, as well as the many overview of some of the forestry roads in the Hill or Bright’s most enjoyable trails in Ovens Valley, also make Huggins Lookout. our region. for great trail runs. 7 BRIGHT & SURROUNDS OFFICIAL VISITOR GUIDE visitbrightandsurrounds.com.au 8 Cycling Water Activities Prefer to pin it? Turn up the adrenaline and check out where mountain bike champions come to ride, with the acclaimed trio of bike parks: Mystic Park in Bright; Big Hill in Mount Beauty; and, in summer, Falls Creek. Or check out our newest trail network There’s a good reason our region has up at Dinner Plain Waterfalls, swimming holes, fly grown into a cycling Mecca: here you’ll fishing, kayaking or a leisurely float Pack your rod find all types of cycling adventures, Cycle Guide in an inflatable flamingo, our river Our clear streams and Grab a free copy of the whether you’re a roadie, mountain networks are an endless source of rivers are perfect for Bright & Surrounds biker or town cruiser. natural entertainment. fly fishing (October Cycle Guide for more to May), or increase information, such as Chill out with a safe and fairly flat ride along the Bright’s Splash Park, Harrietville’s Dredge Hole or Lake your luck at one of shuttle services, bike hire Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail and other Buffalo near Myrtleford are just some of the many swimming our stocked lakes and and bike tours, or pop shared paths throughout our towns and villages, spots in the warmer months, while waterfalls, like Dinner reservoirs or the trout your head into one of our or challenge yourself with some of Australia’s Plain’s Carmichael Falls, Fainter Falls near Bogong Village farm in Harrietville. best road rides on a climb up to Mount Hotham, bike shops for some local or Mount Buffalo’s Ladies Bath Falls are a scenic option for Falls Creek, or Mount Buffalo. knowledge. those who don’t want to get their feet wet. 9 BRIGHT & SURROUNDS OFFICIAL VISITOR GUIDE visitbrightandsurrounds.com.au 10 National Parks NATURAL HIGHS Alpine National Park – home to Mount Hotham (1,861m), Mount Feathertop (1,922m), and Victoria’s highest mountain, Mount Bogong (1,986m) – offers the rare opportunity to venture above the Australian tree line. Alpine National Park and the unique granite formation of Mount Buffalo (1,723m) in nearby Mount Buffalo National Park, are sanctuaries for native flora like snow gums and wild flowers that can only survive in Ladies Bath Falls, Mount Buffalo these high-altitude micro climates.