Victorian Scout Caving Team - Caving Areas

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Caving Areas used by VSCT in Victoria, Australia

Buchan is a small quiet town located near the Snowy River in far eastern Victoria, about 70 km inland from Lakes Entrance. It is 360 km from Melbourne by road. The tourist caves are the biggest drawcard, but venturing into some of the dozens of wild caves in the area is a much more interesting and challenging experience.

Mount Eccles National Park is over 6,000 Hectares in size and covers an area of extremely rugged lava flows and forests around Mount Eccles and Lake Surprise. The impressive and unique lake is the water filled crater of a volcano cone which erupted only about 20,000 years ago. There are good opportunities for walking in the park, and looking at the various volcanic features, such as the lake, the "lava canal", the natural bridge and the lava tubes and caves. Access to Mount Eccles National Park is via the small township of Macarthur, which is about 10 km east of the park. Mount Eccles is about 400 km west of Melbourne by road.

There are also lava flows, tubes and caves in the Harman Valley. These flows originated from Mount Napier, which erupted only about 8,000 years ago. The Byaduk Caves are fairly close to the township of Byaduk, which is 10 km north of Macarthur.

Bats Ridge is a State Faunal Reserve about 8 km west of the large provincial harbour town of Portland. The Reserve is a bushland area of about 700 Hectares on low hills of soft dune limestone formed about 300,000 years ago. There are dozens of small caves hidden in the bush, and a few larger ones, but only a few of them are easily accessible and worth while exploring.