Visitor center · Great Otway National Park
Free waterfall guides make this a smart first Lorne stop.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Otway Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Otway National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Otway audio tourRecorded for this place
Lorne Visitor Centre: Walk Advice and Road History“Up ahead is Lorne Visitor Information Centre, a useful stop before choosing a waterfall walk.”
Plays as you drive up to Lorne Visitor Information Centre in the Parkwolf Great Otway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Lorne Visitor Information Centre is a town visitor hub at 15 Mountjoy Parade, with maps, brochures and local advice for Great Otway visitors. It’s a good first stop before the waterfall walks: staff can help you choose a route, and free basic walk and waterfall guides are available. For a longer or harder walk, pick up the detailed guide too; the free sheets are the quick version.
Inside, the permanent Great Ocean Road Story exhibition gives a compact account of the road built as a memorial to Australians killed in World War I. More than 3,000 returned soldiers began construction in 1919, and the road opened in 1932. Stop in if you want that history before driving the coast; it’s a short exhibition, not a full museum visit.
Wildlife
204 sightingsKoalaMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
35 sightingsGrey KangarooMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
109 sightingsEchidnaMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
58 sightingsKookaburraMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
97 sightingsSwamp WallabyMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
20 sightingsBrushtail PossumMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Otway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateAllenvale to Phantom Falls Walk3.4 km · 1.3 hr · 1.9 km awayA short climb ends at a rain-fed cascade above the river.
ChallengingErskine Falls Circuit Walk23 km · 8 hr · 1.9 km awayFive waterfalls, repeated creek crossings, and a full Lorne loop.
ModerateSt George River Walk4.9 km · 1.8 hr · 1.9 km awayA riverside out-and-back from Allenvale Mill to the Great Ocean Road.
ModerateSt Georges River Loop5.5 km · 2 hr · 1.9 km awayFern-lined riverbanks, a wooded climb and an ocean-facing finish.
EasyLower Kalimna Falls Walk6.5 km · 2.5 hr · 3.2 km awayA modest waterfall with a view from behind the falling water
ModerateSheoak Falls–Castle Rock Circuit9 km · 3.5 hr · 3.3 km awayA creekside loop links a swallow cave, waterfall and ocean lookout.
ModeratePhantom Falls and The Canyon Circuit9.2 km · 3.5 hr · 3.3 km awayThree waterfalls, fern forest and a ten-metre rock cleft.ModerateLower and Upper Kalimna Falls Walk8.8 km · 3.5 hr · 3.3 km awayA ferny falls loop with an old tramway on the return.
Campground · 2 km awayAllenvale CampgroundA leafy tent camp with a 230-metre walk for your gear.
Sight · 2 km awayTeddy's LookoutA short walk opens up the coast, river mouth and ocean.
Sight · 2.4 km awayPhantom FallsA fern-lined climb ends at a 15-metre cascade.
Sight · 2.9 km awayThe CanyonEight-metre rock walls hide in a ferny waterfall walk.
Sight · 3.3 km awaySheoak FallsA short, stepped walk to a waterfall that varies with the rain.
Picnic area · 3.3 km awaySheoak Picnic AreaA shady picnic base for Lorne's inland waterfall walks.
Sight · 3.4 km awayWon Wondah FallsA quick, wooded waterfall pause on the way to a stronger one.
Sight · 3.4 km awaySwallow CaveA honeycombed shelter above Sheoak Creek's upper cascades.Parkwolf’s Great Otway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
