Bright is situated on the Great Alpine Road about three-and-a-half hours drive from Melbourne. The town itself really came into being when gold was discovered in the surrounding hills and valleys in the mid 1800s.

Simply stunning! Mt Hotham looking towards Feathertop. PIC: Visit Victoria

For those grey nomads who like to try their hand at a bit of treasure hunting, you can still pan the rivers here (and I’m told be quite successful). However, for those more interested in learning about the town’s golden past rather than actually getting their hands wet, the Gold Museum, the Gold Battery and the many gold mining relics in the area should keep you busy.
Bright is a busy, interesting town with plenty of markets, wineries, art galleries and shops.

Being a major tourist destination, it also hosts numerous festivals and it’s worth trying to time your stay with the celebrated Spring Festival held in October/November, or the Autumn Festival held in early May.

Goodness, you’ll never be short of things to do during your stay here, will you? Just remember to leave time in your busy schedule for happy hour drinks!

But, for all its man-made beauty, Bright and surrounds are first and foremost a natural wonderland. There are some excellent walks to take from the town itself. The most popular of these is the Canyon Walk that takes you past a small canyon carved by the Ovens River. Other short walks include the Cherry Walk, Bennett’s Walk and the Wandiligong Walk.

Further afield, the area’s mountains, rivers and national parks will have you reaching for the fishing rod, bushwalking boots, binoculars and camera … and you’ll be itching to get out there amongst it all.

IN THE AREA

The colours of Bright are amazing. PIC: Visit Victoria

Here, in the eucalypt forest at the foothills of the Victorian Alps you can spy king parrots, crimsons rosellas, satin bowerbirds, pied currawongs, scarlet robins and blue wrens. And, somewhere out there lurking, will be sugar gliders, feathertail gliders, brushtail and ringtail possums, long-nosed bandicoots, marsupial mice and bush rats.

A large proportion of this wonderful wildlife can be found at Mt Buffalo National Park, just east of Bright. It’s one of Australia’s oldest parks and is famed for the spectacular boulders of the Mount Buffalo Plateau. It is also renowned for its more than 80 kilometres of marked walking trails which, in the right season, wend their way past cascading streams and tumbling waterfalls.

The Alpine National Park to Bright’s west is Victoria’s largest national park covering some 640,000 hectares! It boasts 10 of the state’s 11 highest mountains, rare fauna and a rich botanical community ranging from alpine herb fields to snow gum woodlands.

MAKE SURE YOU …
Visit Wandiligong an old gold mining hamlet and walk around the diggings; enjoy the magnificent autumn colours; take a bushwalk in Mount Buffalo National park; check out some of the amazing native wildlife; enjoy the welcoming village ambience and craft shops of Bright itself.

WHERE TO CAMP
The Alpine National Park – for all sorts of chilly reasons – is not really suitable for camping during winter but, in the other seasons, there are a number of designated camping areas that offer the use of toilets, picnic tables and fireplaces.
In Mount Buffalo National park, there’s a fantastic campground set amongst the park’s snow gum woodland at Lake Catani. It’s only open from the beginning of November until the end of April and you’ll need to book during peak times. There are 50 or so unpowered sites available, but be warned not all of them are suitable for caravans. Of course, as well as national park camping, there are numerous commercial camping/caravan parks in the Bright area.