Organ Pipes National Park, Melbourne: Best walks & attractions
The main attractions of Organ Pipes National Park near Melbourne are the Organ Pipes, Rosette Rock and the Tessellated Pavement. They can be combined on a 90 minute walking trail.
Organ Pipes National Park near Melbourne is not one of Australia’s major national parks.
No-one’s going to pretend this small national park competes with a crocodile cruise on Yellow Water in the Kakadu National Park, or Hamersley Gorge in the Karijini National Park, for example.
But what the Organ Pipes National Park near Melbourne does have in its favour is accessibility. It doesn’t even have to be a day trip from Melbourne – half a day will do the trick.
From Melbourne city centre to Organ Pipes National Park, it’s a 28km drive.
The route runs just west of the Maribyrnong River and north of Taylors Lakes.
14 fantastic experiences that make the most of your free time in Melbourne
- Get the very best views – on a hot air balloon flight over the city.
- See the changing colours of the river – on a sunset kayaking tour – with dinner. (Highly recommended ✅)
- Feast and see the sights at the same time – on a four course dinner cruise along the Yarra River.
- A genuinely excellent street art tour, led by prominent street artists. (Highly recommended ✅)
- The also superb Aboriginal heritage, plants and bush food tour in the Botanic Gardens. (💲 Great value 💲)
- Best of Melbourne bike tour – you can see more on two wheels than walking.
- Hidden laneways bar crawl OR foodie discovery tour OR chocolate and dessert tour.
- Combo ticket for Australian Sports Museum and MCG tour.
- Hassle-dodging advance tickets for the Melbourne Skydeck, Melbourne Zoo, the Ice Bar (with cocktails) and Sea Life Aquarium.
Visitors can tick off the main attractions of Organ Pipes National Park in Victoria pretty quickly. Budget an hour-and-a-half, and you’ll have most of it covered.
Organ Pipes National Park walks: Keilor Plains lava flows
This Melbourne national park is part of the Keilor Plains, which are made of basalt, and are the result of one of the world’s biggest lava flows. The lava originally came from volcanoes near Sunbury. It’s flat apart from the streams, such as Jacksons Creek, which have carved open sizable valleys.
The main attractions of Organ Pipes National Park are all accessed via a steep path.
👇 7 great day trips while you’re in Melbourne 👇
- Great Ocean Road tour – with koalas 🐨.
- Brighton Beach, Moonlit Sanctuary and Phillip Island tour – with penguins 🐧.
- Yarra Valley wine tour – with gin, cider and cheese 🍷.
- Grampians National Park tour – with bushwalks and LOADS of kangaroos 🦘.
- Mornington Peninsula tour – with hot springs bathing 🛀.
- Wilsons Promontory tour – with all manner of native wildlife 🦘🐨.
- Dandenong Ranges steam train ride – plus wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary and chocolate-tasting in the Yarra Valley.
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The Organ Pipes are a series of basalt columns formed millions of years ago. They’re a result of the lava cooling, contracting and cracking.
Rosette Rock and Tessellated Pavement in Organ Pipes National Park
Further along the walking track is Rosette Rock. This is more basalt columns, but this time they formed in a radial display, like the spokes of a wheel.
About 300 metres further along Jacksons Creek is the Tessellated Pavement. It will be no surprise to hear that this is yet more basalt columns. But this time it’s the tops of the columns, which have been eroded over time by Jacksons Creek to give a mosaic effect.
For more information on the geological processes involved, see the Parks Victoria website. They’re similar to what you’ll find at Trentham Falls further north near Daylesford.
How to do Melbourne IN STYLE
If there’s a special occasion while you’re in Melbourne, consider splashing out on these memory-making experiences…
- An indulgent Yarra Valley food and wine tour – with lunch at Yering Station.
- A sunrise hot air balloon flight across the city – followed by a champagne breakfast.
- See the city by helicopter.
- A private Great Ocean Road tour – with an early start to beat the crowds.
- Tandem skydive from 14,000ft – and land on the beach.
Organ Pipes National Park from Melbourne Airport
Organ Pipes National Park is very close to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. It can conceivably be tackled straight after getting off the plane from a Brisbane to Melbourne flight, or as a way to kill time before catching a flight from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast. Alternatively, combine it with a visit to the nearby Lerderderg State Park.
Organ Pipes National Park also makes a good stop on the drive from Melbourne to Mildura or Melbourne to Bendigo.
More Victoria travel
Take selfies among thousands of cacti at Cactus Country in Strathmerton.
Take a tour of the Yarra Valley wineries from Melbourne.
Feast on tacos and mezcal at Bodega Underground in Melbourne.
Eat fun, inventive Indian food at Horn Please in Melbourne.
Indulge in wine flights on the Maroondah Highway at Rochford Wines in the Yarra Valley.