Mount Worth

Mount Worth State Park encompasses approximately 1,040 hectares of temperate rainforest and damp sclerophyll forest in the Strzelecki Ranges of South Gippsland, south of Warragul. The park protects an accessible example of warm temperate rainforest for the South Gippsland region. The rainforest gullies, with their magnificent tree ferns and lyrebird populations, provide an evocative natural experience within easy reach of Melbourne and the South Gippsland hinterland.

Mount Worth State Park supports wildlife typical of South Gippsland's damp forest. Superb lyrebirds are common and frequently heard in the rainforest gullies, where they perform their extraordinary vocal displays. Common wombats, swamp wallabies, and echidnas are regularly encountered. Common brushtail possums and mountain brushtail possums inhabit the forest canopy. The park provides important refuge habitat for forest wildlife in the agricultural Strzelecki landscape.

The vegetation of Mount Worth State Park is dominated by warm temperate rainforest in the moist gully environments, featuring sassafras, blackwood, and tree ferns creating a lush forest atmosphere. Tall wet sclerophyll forest of mountain ash and messmate occurs on the drier slopes and ridges. The park provides an accessible example of the rainforest communities that historically covered much of the Strzelecki Ranges before extensive clearing.

Mount Worth State Park is underlain by Devonian granite forming the basement of the southern Strzelecki Ranges. The moist, sheltered gully environments in the granite terrain support the park's rainforest communities.

The park experiences a cool temperate climate with high, reliable rainfall. Annual precipitation is approximately 1,000 to 1,200 millimetres. The sheltered gullies are significantly cooler and more moist than the surrounding open farming country.

The Gunaikurnai people have cultural connections to the Strzelecki Ranges. European settlers cleared much of the Strzelecki Ranges forest for dairy farming from the 1880s onwards. The remnant rainforest in the state park represents one of the few intact forest patches in a largely cleared landscape.

Mount Worth State Park was established to protect one of the accessible remnant rainforest examples in South Gippsland. The park provides an important educational resource about the natural vegetation communities that once covered the Strzelecki Ranges.

The Trestle Bridge walk is the signature attraction, accessing the rainforest and a historic bridge over the park's creek system. Walking tracks through the rainforest provide access to tree fern communities and lyrebird habitat. The park is easily accessible from Warragul and Melbourne as a half-day excursion.

The park has picnic facilities and walking tracks. Access is via Childers Road from Warragul, approximately 75 kilometres from Melbourne. Warragul provides visitor services.

Conservation management focuses on protecting the rainforest from weed invasion and maintaining the ecological connectivity of the park with other forest remnants in the Strzelecki landscape. Invasive weeds and grazing from adjacent agricultural land are ongoing management challenges.