Stable planning context
How to check this park
Mitchell River National Park protects the Mitchell River gorge and its rainforest gullies on Brabralung Country in Gippsland, and is jointly managed with the Gunaikurnai people, who hold Aboriginal Title over it. Its best-known place is the Den of Nargun, a cave behind a waterfall of great cultural significance to Gunaikurnai people, reached on a loop walk from the Den of Nargun picnic area; the Gunaikurnai people and Parks Victoria ask visitors not to enter the cave. Billy Goat Bend gives lookout views over the gorge and rapids and sits partway along the Mitchell River Walking Track between Angusvale and the Den of Nargun, while the river itself carries canoeing and rafting down towards the Gippsland Lakes, with the strongest flows usually between July and December.
Access is the thing most worth checking here. Every road and track inside the park is gravel: Mitchell River Road and Wallers Road are the routes most vehicles can use, and the rest need a 4WD. The two sides of the park are linked by a ford through the Mitchell River, so a notice about a single track or crossing — a landslip on Angusvale Track past the Rock Creek camp area, for instance, preventing vehicles reaching the ford between Angusvale Track and Hortons Track — can change which campsites and walks are reachable and from which direction, while other tracks stay usable. Deer stalking is permitted under hunting regulations in the eastern section between 15 February and 15 December each year, and firearms are not permitted on the western side of the river.
Before setting out, check the official Parks Victoria page for the exact track, crossing and camping area on your route, and plan an approach that does not depend on fording the river unless you have confirmed the crossing. Match your vehicle to the track, carry drinking water for basic campsites, and check river levels, flood warnings and current fire-danger information for East Gippsland separately before paddling or walking the gorge. This site’s last-check time reflects automated retrieval, not an on-site inspection, and no matching condition here does not mean every track, crossing or campsite in the park is open.