Bunyip park areas continue to re-open

Parks Victoria has reopened Mortimer Picnic Ground and Cannibal Creek Horse Unloading Area as part of its staged reopening of the Bunyip State Park following the March bushfires.

The community can now access an extra 35 kilometres of tracks for bushwalking and horse riding in the western section Bunyip State Park.

Mortimer Picnic Ground is open for camping for the first time since the Bunyip Complex Fires with new fire pits and tables installed as part of rehabilitation work.

Lawson Falls Picnic Ground and Forest Road Unloading Areas are also open.

Some parts of the park remain closed while work is being done to make them safe again. Parks Victoria stated they are continually monitoring and assessing these closed areas which will be opened in stages.

Many visitor sites, walking tracks and roads in the western section of Bunyip State Park remain closed. These include Nash Creek Camping Ground and Dyers Picnic Ground.

Parks Victoria said it appreciates community patience as it works through the Bunyip Park to make new areas safe for use. People continue to break through closure gates to enter areas that are still regenerating from the fires and are not safe to access. Local rangers continue to repair and replace gates to maintain closure points for safety. This is time rangers would much rather be spending making further areas of the park safe and restored for community use.

The entry into closed sections of the park is also impacting on the regenerating vegetation and causing damage to the road and track network which is creating erosion and silt runoff into water courses.