Meredith Park Campground on Lake Colac

Victoria has slowed our travels down to a level that we never expected, with so many truly amazing places to see, 4WD tracks to do and great camp sites. So much so, that we got through about 2 weeks on the Great Ocean Road and were virtually out of food, and had to make a pit stop somewhere to do a big stock up.

Meredith Park Campground on Lake Colac got the tick of approval, being a massive town away from the tourists, and it lined up perfectly to avoid a weekend on the Great Ocean Road, which is always chaotic in summer (and school holidays!).

We left Blanket Bay, and headed through Apollo Bay, before going north at Skeynes Creek into Colac, where we spent 3 nights relaxing, stocking up and getting some school work done with the kids.

Want to know some epic spots on the Great Ocean Road? Check out the Redwoods forest, then Melba Gully Rainforest Walk and the truly stunning Aire Crossing Campground.

Camped at Lake Colac
Our camp site at Meredith Campground, on Lake Colac

Where is Meredith Park Campground?

You’ll find this campground on the northern banks of Lake Colac, which is the largest natural freshwater lake in Victoria.

Meredith Park Campground
This is a hugely popular campground, right next to the water

What does it cost?

Camping here is completely free, which is fantastic, and a huge credit to the town. We always recommend you spend some money in towns like this, to show your appreciation. We got food, a few bits and pieces from Bunnings and fuel, and spent over $600 over the 3 days, which Colac would have missed out on if we’d gone elsewhere (and we might have if it wasn’t free camping!).

Oliver eating food at Colac
We bought a heap of food, fuel and odds and ends in Colac

Amenities at Meredith Park Campground

There’s a number of fire pits along the foreshore that you can use, as well as a couple of toilets, and quite a few rubbish bins. The toilets are all flushing, but many were missing their brushes and were quite messy, but they still worked OK.

Toilets at Lake Colac
There’s flushing toilets at Lake Colac, amongst other things

How far out of town is it?

It’s roughly 13 minutes drive from Meredith Campground to Colac centre, and easily short enough to drive in when you need to. 

Watch the wind

Before we arrived I’d read that it can get windy, and there’s a whole heap of truth in this. We arrived to fairly strong winds from the north, which swung around to the south and were making waves in Lake Colac. In town it would seem quite calm and peaceful, but on the northern side of the lake you copped the wind quite a bit, and we saw a couple of broken swags and gazebos from it.

The doors on the toilets are also chained with scribble saying to hold onto them when you open them, because the wind can rip it away.

Meredith Park Sunset, over Lake Colac
It can be calm and beautiful here, but it can also blow a gale

See more on the vlog

Want to see more? Check out our vlog:

YouTube video

Is it busy?

Despite being inland and a reasonable distance from the main ‘tourist’ attractions, this place was really busy over the weekend. There was still room for people to come in and stay (and quite a bit on the other side of the road), but it was starting to get fairly cosy, and its no wonder; the Lake is beautiful in good weather, and the fact that its free always brings crowds of people in.

Lots of people at Lake Colac
It’s not as crammed as many caravan parks, but it gets busy here

Would we stay again?

We didn’t get very good weather here. It rained a fair bit, and blew for most of our stay, but there were moments that it calmed down and we had fun with the kids on the foreshore. It’s a nice place, and whilst I wouldn’t go out of my way just to visit it, if you need food and supplies Colac is a brilliant place to visit.

The playground in town is fantastic, and you can get water easily enough, which made life much simpler for us. We’d certainly stay again, and if you need some reprieve from a crazy Great Ocean Road, this is a good option.

Lake Colac camping
We liked Colac, and the free camping at Meredith Park is great

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2 Comments

  1. Hey Michael,

    We saw a few people fishing. Nothing was caught, but the weather was pretty average. We saw a few people that looked sort of permanent, but you never know. I guess its nice that they have somewhere to pull up!

    All the best
    Aaron

  2. i agree completley, its a great free camp. we stayed there before covid. plenty of kindling and caught a few redfin and an eel which was great. only downside was the number of homeless?? people camped there long term.