Warrandyte State Park

Warrandyte State Park is a protected reserve along the Yarra River at Warrandyte, about 24 kilometres north-east of central Melbourne, Victoria. Managed by Parks Victoria, it conserves riverine bushland, steep forested slopes and remnants of Victoria's first goldfield. The park is notable for its walking track network, the historic Pound Bend Tunnel, former gold mining sites, and diverse native flora and fauna, providing nature-based recreation close to Melbourne.

Visitors can expect a linear river park comprising several separate reserves including Pound Bend, Black Flat, Jumping Creek, Fourth Hill and Stane Brae along the Yarra River. The setting is bushland with eucalypt forest, river flats, rapids and steep hills. Visitors can explore marked walking tracks, picnic areas beside the river, lookouts, historic gold workings and the Pound Bend Tunnel diversion. Activities include bushwalking, picnicking, canoeing and kayaking on the Yarra, swimming at designated river beaches, birdwatching and nature photography.

Warrandyte was the site of Victoria's first official gold discovery in 1851, leading to the proclamation of Victoria's first goldfield. The park preserves extensive gold mining heritage including shafts, sluices, water races and the Pound Bend Tunnel, a 400-metre tunnel excavated in 1870 to divert the Yarra River and expose the riverbed for alluvial mining. The area was reserved as a state park in 1975 to protect natural and historic values.

The park lies on the traditional Country of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, for whom the Yarra River (Birrarung) holds cultural importance. It also reflects the cultural heritage of the 1850s gold rush era and retains community value as a long-established riverside recreation area for Melbourne residents.