Dandenong Ranges and Puffing Billy

The Dandenong Ranges includes a National Park, maintained by Parks Victoria.

It offers scenic drives through the Ranges , a picnic at the Fern Tree Gully Picnic Ground or in Sherbrooke Forest.

Near the park are coffee shops and restaurants, bed and breakfasts, craft shops, antique shops, gardens and the historic Puffing Billy train from Belgrave to Gembrook.

Numerous walking tracks are excellent for short family strolls or longer hikes.

Through their cultural traditions, Aboriginal people maintain their connection to their ancestral lands and waters.

Puffing Billy is a well regarded tourist attraction, and gives people somewhere to go and something to look forward to. They offer a tour of the train from Belgrave to other parts of the Dandenongs. There are pictures of the old Puffing Billy from many years ago at Belgrave station.

One of the beautiful things of the Dandenongs are the ferns and flowers that grow there, and make the area a tourist attraction, with all kinds of bushes, trees and natural habitats.

Enjoy the mountain scenery and panoramic views which pass by your carriage window. You may stop over for a few pleasant hours bushwalking, swimming or just relaxing in the peaceful country setting.  The terminus of the line at Gembrook is a delightful country town with much to offer the visitor.

It travels 42 kilometres from Belgrave, in the Dandenongs, via Sherbrooke Forest, trestle bridge, Selby, Menzies Creek, passing farmlands, Emerald, Cockatoo and Gembrook.

Between 1958 and 1962, a new station and yard was constructed entirely by volunteers, using parts of the old Belgrave station. More recently a major redevelopment project has provided a new, level station yard and improved passenger amenities including a 1920's-style station building.

Shortly after departure from the station, the Locomotive Depot may be seen to the left of the train. The large brick building was designed to blend in with Puffing Billy's 'period' image and was designed and built in 1975.

Gembrook has cafes, a hotel and many interesting places to visit in the region.  Puffing Billy will stay here for some time to allow you to explore the town, before returning to Lakeside and Belgrave, or you can stop overnight at one of the outstanding accommodation establishments.

Colourful, inviting and cool, especially in summer, the Dandenongs are popular for daytrips, not only for their intrinsic beauty but also for the many beautiful gardens and great variety of European and native trees and shrubs.

The Dandenongs are home to 6 of the Great Gardens of Melbourne. The rich volcanic soil and plentiful rain ensures that plants flourish here, and there are many nurseries and arboretums to visit.

The smattering of restaurants, art galleries, antique shops and tearooms in the many townships of the Dandenongs provide excellent detours from exploring the region's stunning scenery.

Major towns in the area offering accommodation for a weekend getaway from Melbourne include: Belgrave, Emerald, Gembrook and Olinda in the Dandenongs and Healesville, Yarra Glen and Warburton in the Yarra Valley.

Sherbrooke forest features huge mountain ash trees and ferns. If you’re lucky you might see kangaroos, rosellas kookaburras.

The Dandenong ranges are rich in wildlife with 130 native bird species, 31 native mammals, 21 reptiles and 9 amphibian species recorded.

The Superb Lyrebird is its most famous inhabitant. People the world over are fascinated by the ability of this bird to mimic the calls of other bird species. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Crimson Rosellas, Laughing Kookaburras, Eastern Yellow Robins, Yellow faced Honeyeaters and Pied Currawongs are some of the native birds most frequently seen in the park.

Heavily-scarred eucalypt trees (as mentioned above) are evidence of the night-time feeding of Yellow-bellied Gliders and tiny Feather-tail Gliders make their homes in the hollows of mature trees. Tree Goannas can also be found in the park.

The plant communities in the park are remnants of the original vegetation that has receded over the last 150 years with the rapid growth of Melbourne's suburbs.

Dandenong Ranges National Park has six major vegetation communities in which about 400 indigenous plant species occur. The park is particularly well known for its spectacular Mountain Ash forests (as mentioned earlier) and fern gullies.

Other vegetation communities include Cool Temperate Rainforests, Box Stringybark Woodlands, Riparian Forests, Mountain Grey Gum-Messmate Forest and Sclerophyll Woodlands. The park supports significant plants such as the Slender Tree-fern and Summer Spider Orchid. Fire plays an important role in the ecology of the vegetation.