Lerderderg Campground

This may be an exceptional campground but my one star goes to the management with their inability to advertise that the campground is closed. Nothing written anywhere on Google or Google Maps. We were about three KMs from the campground and a closed sign and gate blocks the road. Extremely poor effort from Parks Victoria.

Awesome spot. Take the drive in slow to avoid potholes. Great place to get surrounded by nature. Perfect for bird watching/photography, guard your potatoes from cheeky King Parrots.

One of the best camp grounds under 1 hr from Melbourne and loads of walks to be had too. Highly recommend.

Warning: MASSIVE potholes. If you’re coming down the final stretch of Upper Chadwick Track in a 4WD you’ll be laughin’… If you’re coming in a little Hyundai i30 like I was, SLOW DOWN if you don’t wanna lose half ya chassis. Which I nearly did. This is a really interesting place to camp. It’s more stretched out than most campsites, ie. instead of one camping area there’s over half a dozen different sections you can drive or walk to, about 50-100m apart, all with big ParksVic firepits and room for your fourby or a couple tents. Just keep following Upper Chadwick Track til you see a section you like (recommendation would be near enough to the long drop toilets so you don’t have to go squatty potty in the bush). As far as I could see there’s not really any dedicated hike trails which is kind of disappointing. I could be wrong but didn’t see any on my wandering. Lerderderg does have great hiking but you’d probably need to drive back somewhere like Mackenzies Flat which is about 40 mins south by car. If you’re tent camping, there’s no grass, it’s mostly dirt ground and pretty compacted clay but plenty of rocks around to hammer your tent pegs in. You’ll see roos and native birds any time of year, lizards and snakes in the warmer months, and plenty of yahoos during bogan season.

Decent free campsite. Dog friendly and reasonable spaces. Close to melbourne to go for a night, far enough to feel like you've gotten away. Can get busy on weekends, get in early to get a good spot. They've put in new fire bins with hot swivel hot plates too.