JUST 90 minutes from Melbourne, the Central Victorian town of Castlemaine oozes gold rush era history wherever you look. And there’s plenty of fun to be had camping and exploring the many 4x4 tracks that criss-cross the nearby state forests.
In the 1850s, when the wider Castlemaine area was collectively known as Forest Creek, gold discovered here fuelled the start ofVictoria’s historic gold rush. Forest Creek was one of the richest shallow alluvial goldfields in the world and, along with the surrounding area, was responsible for producing some of the largest nuggets ever unearthed, including the world’s largest, the Welcome Stranger, which was found just 30mm beneath the earth at the base of a tree.
Since 1851 the area has produced more than 1500 tons of gold (about $1.5b in today’s money) although that is likely a gross underestimate given poor record keeping and undisclosed finds. Geological estimates suggest that only 11 per cent of the available gold has been extracted – which is no doubt why fossickers still comb the old diggings. Early in 2023 one lucky soul turned up a 2.6kg nugget estimated to be worth $240,000.
EASY DRIVE
WHILE the major forest roads and tracks in the area don’t strictly require four-wheel drive in dry conditions, there are numerous minor tracks to challenge 4x4 enthusiasts. Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land Water & Planning (DELWP) promotes a four-hour, 100km 4x4 drive in the Wombat State Forest, starting in the east from near Gisborne and finishing near Daylesford. When we checked out
