Distillery Creek Picnic Area

Distillery Creek Picnic Area is a pair of day-use grounds in dry ironbark eucalypt forest near Aireys Inlet, inland from the Great Ocean Road. It is a relaxed picnic stop and a starting point for walks, from a short nature loop to a longer hike. The upper and lower grounds sit on opposite sides of the Bambra Road and Distillery Creek Road junction.

Both grounds have picnic tables and wood-fired barbecues, so bring food and firewood. The upper area has flushing toilets and an information board; the lower area is the start of the nature loop. Dogs are allowed on lead, and camping is not permitted at these day-use grounds.

The Distillery Creek Nature Trail starts at the lower ground and makes a 1.5 km circuit, about 30 minutes. Interpretive panels and QR codes explain the woodland, and a boardwalk reaches a creek-side viewing point. For a bigger outing, the 12 km Currawong Falls circuit takes about four hours and is strenuous.

Water is not guaranteed here: the creek is often dry, and Currawong Falls are at their best during or after heavy rain. If flowing water is the main reason for your walk, time it for after wet weather and be ready for a dry creek bed.

The loop passes dry ironbark forest with Dusty Miller and Hazel Pomaderris beneath the trees. Late winter and spring can bring flowers including Prickly Moses, Varnish Wattle, Dusty Daisy-bush and Prickly Starwort, as well as greenhood orchids.

Keep an eye out for honeyeaters, Superb Fairy-wrens, Eastern Yellow Robins and Grey Fantails around the picnic grounds. Some ironbark trunks along the walk still show blackened bark from the 1983 bushfires.