Ouyen (pop. 1500) is a traffic hub and agricultural center in the huge Mallee wheat belt.
Within easy reach of Ouyen are the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park and the recently established Yanga-Nyawi (Murray-Sunset) National Park, with camping grounds on the Pink Lakes.
Occasional flooding by the Murray supplies a series of lakes with water, allowing tall river red gums to flourish. Otherwise the vegetation cover is mallee scrub. There are many water birds in the park, and it is also home to the mallee fowl, which deposits its eggs in mounds of decomposing vegetation which serve as incubators.
Address: Parks Victoria Information Line, Level 10 535 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Tips: Best time to visit: spring and autumn; summer is very hot.
Access from Murray Valley Highway, access road 4km east of Hattah.
Bush camping allowed with permission from ranger.
Bring your own water.
Murray-Sunset National Park was established in 1991 (previously Pink Lakes State Park). The park reaches west to the borders of South Australia and north to adjoin Wyperfeld National Park. It is planned to extend it northward as far as the Murray River, thus bringing an immense area of mallee scrub with its typical flora and fauna under protection. There are many unsurfaced tracks through the park (all-terrain vehicles advisable).
Address: Parks Victoria Information Line, Level 10 535 Bourke Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Tips: Best time to visit: autumn to spring; summer is very hot.
Access via Ouyen; or from Pinnaroo (South Australia) on Mallee Highway, turning off at Linga.
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