Some of Australia's best rainforest scenery can be found in Victoria’s national parks. See ancient mossy trees and stand under magnificent waterfalls. Walk under grand canopies of Mountain Ash or take a scenic drive through lush green tall forests surrounded by giant ferns, Myrtle Beech and Sassafras. Relax and rejuvenate in nature with forest bathing, bird watching or simply breathing in the cool, clean air. Melba Gully (known as the Jewel of the Otways) in Great Otway National Park is one of the wettest places in the state with prolific plant growth and is a dense rainforest of Myrtle Beech, Blackwood and Tree-ferns, with an understorey of low ferns and mosses. Visit when dark to see the glow worms that speckle the walking tracks like stars in the night sky. Divided by the Great Ocean Road, the Great Otway National Park stretches from Torquay through to Princetown and up through the Otways hinterland towards Colac with tall forests and ferny gullies in the north, and sandy beaches, rock platforms and windswept heathland along the southern coast.

Protecting the tall forests, Dandenong Ranges National Park is well known for its spectacular Mountain Ash trees and lush fern gullies, and is ideal for relaxing picnics and tranquil forest walks. The cool mountain elevation affords spectacular panoramic views and there is abundant native birdlife, including crimson rosellas, kookaburras and the ever-elusive Superb Lyrebird. Meandering and criss-crossing the cool, clear waters of the Sassafras, Woori Yallock and Menzies Creeks is the 17km Dandenong Ranges Tourist Track which passes through fern-filled gullies, eucalypt covered ridges and over numerous bridges and boardwalks.

Visit the Rainforest Gallery in neighbouring Yarra Ranges National Park, with its spectacular observation platform and rainforest walkway on the southern slopes of Mount Donna Buang. Drive the world famous Black Spur between Healesville and Narbethong, continue through to Marysville stopping along Lady Talbot Drive to walk through ancient rainforests at the Beeches and view the waterfalls at Keppel and Phantom Falls. To the west of Melbourne, Tarra-Bulga National Park in South Gippsland is well known for its impressive Corrigan’s Suspension Bridge, which stretches through the rainforest canopy, affording spectacular views of the lush fern gully on the forest floor below. The park covers some of the best examples of original cool temperate rainforests of the Strzelecki Ranges.