Chiltern National Park

Visited: late summer

Recommendation: I found Chiltern to be incredibly dry and very hot. Consequently, the wildlife was very quiet. The best place to see anything was around the dam. Next time I will be visiting in spring!

The Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park, as the full name goes, has a relatively recent history as a protected area. The land now encompassed by the park was traditionally owned by the Yorta Yorta Peoples. In 1977, the Land Conservation Council (LCC) recognized the ecological value of the box-ironbark forests and woodlands in the area. This led to the reservation of the Chiltern State Park (later renamed Chiltern Regional Park) in 1980. The Mt Pilot Multipurpose Park was also established around the same time. The Environment Conservation Council later designated the areas the Chiltern Box-Ironbark National Park.

Finally, in October 2002, the Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park came into being. It combined the Chiltern Regional Park and the Mt Pilot Multipurpose Park, aiming to offer better protection to the area's ecosystems and heritage. The park is renowned for being one of the best birding spots in the country. 

The Chiltern forest itself was beautiful and I headed for a camping spot on the banks of the Reedy Creek initially. I am used to hot weather in Australia and in the Outback in particular but on this visit it was very disconcerting. Everything was crackly and paper dry. I sat and did think that a any minor spark might light the place up. There was little to see here with the few honeyeaters around staying high in the canopy.

The next morning I headed to Honeyeater Picnic Area close to the actual town of Chiltern. It was still blisteringly hot and dry and it was not comfortable at all. However, there was a dam there which attracted more birds. As I wandered around the dam, a family of Australian Grebe were alternately diving for food and squabbling. They were lovely to watch.