Looking for a fun day out? Hit the road and escape the city to one of these must-see day trip destinations in Victoria, all close to Melbourne.
Victoria
The best waterfalls to explore in Melbourne and Victoria
Visiting waterfalls is a wonderful way to relax and immerse yourself in nature. Here are some of the best and most picturesque waterfalls in Victoria.
Victoria is blessed with a stunning array of waterfalls and most of them are easily accessible on a day trip or road trip. As well as being a free leisure activity, visiting waterfalls also offers the chance to explore national parks, state forests and recreation areas across the state.
The state's waterfalls range from big to small, with MacKenzie Falls in Grampians National Park being the largest and Dights Falls on the Yarra River claiming the title of being the only waterfall in inner Melbourne.
When is the best time to see waterfalls in Victoria?
Typically, the best time to see waterfalls flowing in Victoria is winter and spring. This is because of increased rainfall leading to more water going over the falls.
Before heading out, check that your Emergency Roadside Assistance is up to date, and download the VicEmergency app to check for extreme weather warnings, such as flooding or bushfire.
RACV Members can find fuel prices, activate fuel vouchers and locate Chargefox EV chargers in the RACV App.
Waterfalls in Victoria by region
Close to Melbourne
Dights Falls
Located: Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne
Drive time: Approximately 20 minutes from Melbourne CBD. Alternatively, catch a Mernda or Hurstbridge line train to Victoria Park station then walk 15 minutes to the falls.
Facilities and accessibility: Picnic area and public toilets (no accessible toilet). No wheelchair access, dogs must be leashed.
What Dights Falls lacks in size, it makes up for in convenience, because it’s only a few kilometres from the heart of Melbourne. This artificial weir is built on a natural rock bar in the Yarra River, just downstream from the river’s junction with Merri Creek. You can access it from Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne's largest natural bushland park.
A 5km-loop walking path starts at the heritage-listed Kanes Bridge near the Studley Park Boathouse and passes Dights Falls, while a 6.3km walk takes you from the falls to the Hawthorn Rowing Club, the oldest rowing club in Victoria.
What else to do nearby: Collingwood Children’s Farm and Abbotsford Convent are both a 15-minute walk from Dights Falls.
Buckley Falls
Located: Buckley Falls Reserve, Geelong
Drive time: Approximately one hour from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Picnic area, no wheelchair or pram access. Dogs must be leashed. A picnic area is a 10-minute walk from the falls.
This quiet slice of nature is named after the convict William Buckley, who escaped Victoria’s penal colony in 1803 and lived with the Wadawurrung people in the Geelong region for 30 years. The Barwon River, including the placid Bunyip Pool near the falls, was an important source of fish and eels for Indigenous people.
Popular with families, Buckley Falls Reserve boasts three cascades along a stretch of the Barwon River, connected by a streamside trail. The River Red Gum Walk leads right to the main lookout from the Queens Park car park.
Buckley Falls is just outside Geelong, and only a half hour's drive to RACV Torquay Resort.
What else to do nearby: Check out the best things to do in Geelong, from the spectacular waterfront to Geelong Gallery and some of the uber-cool eateries on Little Malop street.
Yarra Valley
Steavenson Falls
Located: Falls Rd, Marysville
Drive time: Around two hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Wheelchair and pram accessible. Public toilets and picnic areas available. Parking fees apply.
Dropping 84m into a rippling pool, Steavenson Falls has been a popular destination for Victorians and tourists alike since the 1860s.
It’s a short and easy walk to the viewing platform from the car park. Alternatively, you can take the scenic 3.4km one-way Tree Fern Gully Trail from Marysville town to the base of Steavenson Falls.
What else to do nearby: Steavenson Falls is 45 minutes from RACV Healesville Country Club & Resort in the picturesque Yarra Valley.
Waterfalls can be found across Victoria and make a great pitstop on your next road trip.
Great Ocean Road and Otways
Triplet falls
Located: Great Otway National Park
Drive time: Around 2.5 hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Not wheelchair accessible, no dogs allowed. Nearest public toilets located in the towns of Beech Forest or Lavers Hill.
Triplet Falls is a gorgeous gem hidden within the Otways. A one-hour return walk takes you through ancient rainforest to a series of elevated viewing platforms with amazing views of the three cascades. The surrounding mountain ash and myrtle beech are beautiful and fragrant.
The Triplet Falls Trail, which starts and finishes from the car park near Lavers Hill, also takes you past an old timber sawmill. Relics from the early 1900s are visible along the walk.
What else to do nearby: Enjoy Triplet Falls before or after a thrilling experience at Otway Fly Treetop Adventures.
Erskine Falls
Located: Erskine Falls Rd, Lorne
Drive time: Just over two hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Not wheelchair accessible, no dogs and no public toilets. Nearest toilets and a picnic area located at Blanket Leaf Picnic Ground (a five-minute drive or 4.4km walk each way via the Lemonade Creek trail)
Erskine Falls is one of the most famous waterfalls in Victoria. It's a 30m waterfall situated in a gorgeous fern gully, with multiple viewing points.
The first lookout is a five-minute walk from the car park. Alternatively, take the 230 steps down to the Erskine River and view Erskine Falls from the second lookout.
Sheoak Falls and Kalimna Falls are two other waterfalls that you could visit along with Erskine Falls for a fun day out. The pretty seaside town of Lorne is just 15 minutes away for an overnight stop.
Note that access to Erskine Falls is currently only via the top viewing platform.
What else to do nearby: Don’t miss Live Wire Park just outside of Lorne. It’s a high ropes adventure park that champions sustainability
Beauchamp Falls
Located: Beauchamp Falls Rd, Beech Forest
Drive time: 2.5 hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Free, unpowered campsites, fire pits and picnic areas. Public toilets are available and dogs are permitted.
Beauchamp Falls is a rainforest beauty: 20m of misty falls surrounded by thick ferns and mountain ash. The walk from the Aire Valley Road picnic area is 3km and it takes an hour to get out to the viewing platform and back.
What else to do nearby: Gaze in wonder at the Beech Forest Redwoods, a towering plantation of Californian Redwoods that can grow up to 60 metres tall.
Buckley Falls Reserve has rocks where you can rest and admire the view. Image: Visit Victoria
Grampians (Gariwerd) and Western Victoria
MacKenzie Falls
MacKenzie Falls is closed until mid 2026 for major construction works. Visit Parks Victoria for updates.
Located: Wartook Rd, Zumsteins
Drive time: 3.5 hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Suitable for wheelchairs and prams. Toilets and picnic areas available, no dogs allowed.
MacKenzie Falls is known as the most iconic waterfall in the Grampians. Fed by the pristine waters of Lake Wartook, these falls provide a spectacular show all year round with lots of fine rainbow mist.
The 2km MacKenzie Falls Walk to the waterfall's base is steep and includes 260 narrow steps, therefore the walk back up can be challenging. Thankfully, there's an easy, wheelchair-friendly alternative: the 1.9km MacKenzie Falls Lookout Walk through stringybark forest to Bluff Lookout, where you can see multiple cascades of the river flowing through the gorge.
After more walks in the area? Try the 500m, wheelchair-friendly Broken Falls Walk in the upper sections of MacKenzie Falls, or the 7km return MacKenzie River Walk with water crossings, rock hopping and rock scrambling past Fish Falls to Zumsteins Historic Area and back.
What else to do nearby: For more watery fun, drop by the Venus Baths just outside of Halls Gap. These natural rockpools are perfect for dipping your feet in after a long hike.
Read more: Natural freshwater swimming holes you can visit in Victoria.
Hopkins Falls
Located: Hopkins Falls Rd, Cudgee
Drive time: Approximately three hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Picnic area (with gas barbecues supplied) and public toilets.
Hopkins Falls is among Victoria's widest at 90m and best seen from the viewing platform or from the foot of the falls. Surrounded by dairy country, it's ideal for fishing, walking or enjoying a picnic.
If you're visiting in summer, keep an eye out for eels. For a few days each summer, juvenile eels (called elvers) migrate upstream from their spawning site in the Coral Sea 3,000km away. If you're lucky, you'll see them jump up and over these falls.
What else to do nearby: Hopkins Falls is a 15-minute drive from Warrnambool, where you also have the chance of seeing Southern Right Whales from June to September.
Trentham Falls is a lovely picnic destination, with supplies in nearby Daylesford. Image: Visit Victoria
Goldfields and Central Victoria
Trentham Falls
Located: Trentham Falls Rd, Trentham
Drive time: Around 1.5 hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Picnic area and fire pits, with leashed dogs welcome. You can access the falls either via steps or a steep gravel path suitable for many, but not all, abilities.
These stunning falls, one of the longest single-drop waterfalls in Victoria, roar over ancient basalt columns. It’s an easy walk from the carpark through lush bush to the viewing area, but there's no access to the top or bottom of the falls due to unstable and steep cliffs.
Trentham Falls is a short drive from the town of Trentham, and bang in between Daylesford and Kyneton (roughly 20 minutes in each direction).
What else to do nearby: Submerge yourself in the restorative waters of Hepburn Bathhouse and Spa where tourists have been easing their weary bones since 1895.
Turpins Falls
Located: Turpins Falls Scenic Reserve, Langley
Drive time: Around 1.5 hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: No toilets or bins. Dogs are not allowed. Not suitable for prams or wheelchairs, though the falls can be seen from the carpark.
A waterfall flowing over an ancient lava flow? Experience it for yourself at Turpins Falls, a 18m waterfall located around 15 minutes outside of Kyneton. This waterfall is fed by the Campaspe River and the pool at the bottom of the falls is bigger than an Olympic swimming pool. Despite this, swimming is not advised due to the extremely cold temperature of the water.
Turpins falls reopened to the public in April 2026 following a five-year closure. The site now features a viewing platform, staircase and walking track to the lookout. Note that the top of the falls is permanently closed. Jumping from the falls is strictly prohibited.
What else to do nearby: Head south into the township of Kyneton, or a little further south still to check out the famed Hanging Rock (an extinct volcano).
Your reward for the 3km hike to Beauchamp Falls is 20m of misty, fern-laden falls. Image: Visit Victoria
Gippsland
Agnes Falls
Located: Agnes Falls Rd, Hazel Park
Drive time: About 2.5 hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Picnic area, no bins (carry out your rubbish), public toilets available.
Love a hidden gem? In the rolling green hills of the Strzelecki Ranges, the Agnes Waterfall is a powerhouse that plunges 59m into a deep picturesque gorge.
Stretch your legs and take a short 200m stroll from the car park through the Agnes Falls Scenic Reserve to the falls viewing area. Keep an eye out for wallabies, possums, kookaburras and currawongs as you go. You can even bring your dog to this reserve, as long as it's on a leash at all times.
What else to do nearby: Agnes Falls is a short drive from Toora or Welshpool, and about an hour’s drive from RACV Inverloch Resort.
High Country
Ladies Bath Falls
Located: Mount Buffalo Rd, Bright
Drive time: Just under four hours from Melbourne
Facilities and accessibility: Picnic area, no toilets (closest toilets are at the Eurobin Creek Picnic area) and not wheelchair accessible
In the early 1900s, travelling parties on their way to Mount Buffalo Chalet would stop near the base of the mountain for a refreshing dip. The men and women would separate to bathe in different spots. Ladies Bath Falls was where the women could privately bathe in the refreshing waters of Crystal Brook.
Luckily, both men and women can now enjoy Ladies Bath Falls. It's a short 400m wal from the carpark. Bring a picnic to enjoy before or after dipping your toes in the cold water. A little further away is Eurobin Falls, where Crystal Creek spills over the granite rockface.
What else to do nearby: The falls make an excellent pitstop while exploring the High Country towns of Bright, Myrtleford and Beechworth.
Ladies Bath Falls is a short walk from the main road and nearby to Eurobin Falls. Image: Visit Victoria
Safety measures for waterfall walks
When embarking on a waterfall walk in Victoria, it's essential to prioritise safety. Be sure to check on individual trail conditions with Parks Victoria before you go.
Here are some key safety precautions to keep in mind:
- Research the trail beforehand and choose walks suitable for your fitness level and experience.
- Wear appropriate footwear with good grip and ankle support to navigate uneven terrain.
- Respect safety barriers and warning signs, and stay away from cliff edges.
- Snakes are often prevalent around waterways. Stick to a designated or clear path, and watch your step. If you encounter a snake, stop, stay calm, and back away slowly. If you can't safely walk around the snake, go back the way you came.
- Check the weather forecast and avoid waterfall walks during heavy rain or stormy conditions, as this can increase the risk of slippery paths and flash flooding.
- Download the VicEmergency app, which includes warnings and incident notifications for fire, flood and storm.
- Carry a fully charged mobile phone for emergencies, but be aware that signal reception may be limited in remote areas.
- Inform someone about your plans, including the route you intend to take and your estimated return time.
