An hours drive from Melbourne takes you through to the Macedon Ranges, a countryside that offers the true color of autumn: copper, amber, bronze, gold, and the deep arterial red of pin oak leaves held against a grey mountain sky.
Macedon Ranges is where 154 oaks planted in 1918 form the most famous autumn road in Victoria. This region has villages of Kyneton, Woodend and Gisborne who have quietly built one of the state’s best food scenes.
Route Guide:
Melbourne – Calder Fwy – Woodend (Coffee first) – Macedon (Honour Avenue) – Mount Macedon (Gardens & summit) – Kyneton (Piper Street lunch) – Malmsbury (Bluestone viaduct) – Gisborne (Return loop) – Riddells Creek – Back to Melbourne
Note to beat the crowds: Honour Avenue and the Mount Macedon garden trail are extremely popular on April weekends and parking restrictions are strictly enforced and roads can be slow. Leave Melbourne before 8 am on weekends or visit on a weekday.
Early morning light on the oaks is also dramatically better than midday. The shuttle bus from Centennial Park removes the parking problem entirely.
Honour Avenue: 154 Oaks, One for Each Life
The most beautiful War Memorial in Victoria
On 21 August 1914, Lieutenant Arthur Grumont was the first person to enlist for the army from the district of Macedon and Upper Macedon.
By 1918, 154 men and women from the district had enlisted for service in the Great War, and the local community decided to plant an avenue of trees to honour every one of them. Not a cenotaph, not a marble column but trees, one for each person who had gone, planted with equal prominence regardless of rank. The decision was made at a public meeting in May 1918. Volunteer community members spent three months preparing the site, digging holes six feet in diameter, removing and replacing soil, laying drainage pipes, and erecting timber tree guards.
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The trees were almost certainly supplied by Joseph Firth, the Superintendent of the Macedon State Nursery and two of the 154 trees were planted for his own sons, John (tree #39) and William (tree #139), who both served. The State Nursery had been planted on Mount Macedon from 1872 onward specifically because the timber industry had stripped the mountain bare. The trees of Honour Avenue and the magnificent estate gardens that inspired the choice of pin oak are all second-growth, grown from a mountain that Europeans had nearly destroyed within 50 years of arrival.
The official opening on 10 August 1918 was attended by some 700 people. The Premier of Victoria planted the tree for Lieutenant Grumont (tree number 58). Mrs Lawson was presented with a bouquet by a little girl named Miss Norton, who had four brothers on active service. Two months later, the War ended.
The avenue was partially damaged in the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfire but remains magnificent. It is on the Victorian Heritage Register. It is one kilometre long. It erupts into gold and red from late March to late April every year, and people come from across the state to walk beneath it.
Notes for photographers: Cars are not permitted to pull over along Honour Avenue between 9 am and 5 pm during April and penalties apply. Park at Centennial Park on Mount Macedon Road and walk to the avenue. The shuttle bus service also stops here. Arrive before 9 am if you want to drive slowly through and stop for photographs.
I highly recommend to capture the low morning light through the canopy at 7:30–8:30 am on a clear April day for the finest photographs.
On your way stop at Woodend
The town of Woodend makes for a good stopover if you are starting early. It has a strong café scene. You can visit Milko for coffee, Kuzu Izakaya for outstanding Japanese (please book ahead) and Holgate Brewhouse for craft beer.
Bourkies Bakehouse have classic country pie and Fox in the Chamber made amazing toasties. High Street has a few craft shops and boutiques so make for a good stroll.
Mount Macedon Garden Trail
The southern slopes of Mount Macedon are lined with heritage estates whose gardens with many planted by Melbourne’s wealthy elite from the late 19th century onward. These are among the finest private gardens in Australia and three of them open in April as part of the Mount Macedon Autumn Garden Trail.
Forest Glade Gardens
816 Mount Macedon Road – Open daily 10am–4:30pm – Entry fees: $15–$20
The Forest Glade Gardens are almost 100 years old and acknowledged as one of the most beautiful private gardens in Australia. It is spread across 14 acres across four distinct styles:
- a large English section with enormous exotic trees
- a Japanese section complete with bonsai house: This section is in the lower garden at Forest Glade and produces the most saturated reds in the Macedon Ranges. The deep crimson and scarlet against dark green underplanting looks stunning.
- a woodland area, and
- an Italian-influenced formal section
In autumn the various maples produce what is described as “a riot of colour.” The garden sits on the slope of the mountain and the terrain is undulating, with stone paths, fernery gullies and lawn clearings opening views to the surrounding ranges.
Notes: There are no on-site parking. In April on weekends and public holidays, use the shuttle bus from Centennial Park. Mid-week, limited street parking is available on Mount Macedon Road. Dogs on leads are welcome. Closed on Total Fire Ban days.
Duneira Estate
Officer Lane, Mount Macedon – April open days – Entry fees : $15–$30
The 1875 homestead at Duneira is surrounded by heritage-listed gardens that open on scheduled days throughout the year, with expanded hours during the April Autumn Festival. Tickets include access to the stunning garden and optionally the house and art collection. The estate also hosts the annual Bluebell Festival in spring. During April, Duneira is part of the Garden Trail shuttle service. One of those gardens that looks completely impossible for its age and condition — the canopy trees are enormous, the design serene.
Viewfield Garden
651 Mount Macedon Road – April weekends – Entry fees: $15 entry
The third garden on the Autumn Trail, open on select weekends and public holidays during April. Included in the shuttle service. More intimate than Forest Glade and less well-known — which means shorter queues and a quieter experience on even busy April weekends. Worth combining with Forest Glade for a full morning on the mountain.
The Return Loop: Kyneton, Malmsbury & Gisborne
The real advantage of travelling through Macedon Ranges are the choices of seeing other worthwhile stops on a single loop. From Mount Macedon you can head south toward Kyneton, Malmsbury lies in the west, then north is Gisborne before you head back along the Calder.
The entire loop is just under 120 km and can be completed in a comfortable half-day, or stretched across a full day with proper time at each village.
Kyneton
Kyneton’s Piper Street has become one of Victoria’s best regional eating streets — a former gold rush service town that has been colonised by excellent food producers, restaurants and providores without losing its historic bluestone character. The Country Cob Bakery holds the national record for Australia’s best pies (winner 2018–2020). Piper Street Food Co. makes English-style pork pies and terrines of genuine quality. Midnight Starling is the French bistro that books out weeks in advance. The Albion Hotel is the polished country pub the street anchors itself to. In autumn the old bluestone buildings are at their best, the street well-shaded by mature trees, and the produce shops stocked with local seasonal goods.
Malmsbury – Bluestone village & botanic gardens
Malmsbury, between Kyneton and the Calder Freeway, is one of the finest small heritage villages in Central Victoria. The six-arch bluestone viaduct over the Coliban River (1859) is among the most elegant pieces of 19th-century engineering in the state. The Malmsbury Botanic Gardens were established in the 1850s alongside the viaduct and are at their best in autumn with the deciduous plantings along the creek. The Malmsbury Bakery is the reason most people stop here; the pies and pastries are exceptional and the setting beside the gardens is excellent for a picnic. The Stables restaurant overlooks the gardens if you want something more formal.
Gisborne, the southern gateway village
Gisborne, at the southern end of the ranges loop, offers the final village stop before the Calder Freeway run back to Melbourne. 3 Little Pigs is the brunch destination that appears on every Melbourne foodie’s Macedon Ranges itinerary. The Baringo Food & Wine Co. in nearby New Gisborne combines a provedore, bistro and wine bar in one address that operates as a day-trip destination in its own right. The Gisborne Ice Cream Co. is the sweet finish.
Riddells Creek on the drive south from Gisborne has its own bakery known for classic country pie.
Walks of the Ranges
| Walk | Distance | Time | Notes | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honour Avenue walk | ~2km return | 30–45 min | Walk the full length of the avenue from Centennial Park to the western cairn and back. The canopy closes over you at peak colour. Best light before 9am. Park at Centennial Park — no roadside stopping on the avenue during April. | Easy |
| Forest Glade Gardens | ~3km internal paths | 1.5–2 hrs | Fourteen acres, four garden styles, steep and undulating terrain. Solid paths and driveways throughout but some wet-weather slipperiness in the fern gullies. Bring a picnic and stay for the afternoon. Last entry 4:30pm. | Easy |
| Camel’s Hump walk | 4km return | 1.5–2 hrs | Summit walk in Macedon Regional Park to the rocky summit plateau with 360-degree views across the ranges. Clear autumn days give extraordinary visibility. Steep in sections. Starts from Camel’s Hump car park on Camel’s Hump Road. | Moderate |
| Memorial Cross walk | ~3km return | 1 hr | Walk to the Memorial Cross near the summit of Mount Macedon — views over the Calder Highway valley and toward Melbourne’s northern suburbs on clear days. Note: the cross is currently closed for redevelopment (as of 2026) but the walk and park remain open. | Easy |
| Hanging Rock walk | ~2km loop | 45–60 min | The iconic volcanic formation at Hanging Rock Reserve (Wurundjeri Country), 7km from Woodend. Short loop walk through the rock formations to the summit lookout. Café on site. Autumn is quieter than summer. Entry fee applies for the reserve. | Easy |
| Malmsbury Botanic Gardens loop | 1.5 km | 30 min | Flat walk through heritage gardens beside the Coliban River viaduct. Deciduous plantings at full autumn colour April–May. Picnic tables at the viaduct lookout. Combine with the Malmsbury Bakery stop. | Easy |
The single strongest piece of practical advice for this drive:
Go on a weekday. Honour Avenue on a Saturday in peak April is crowded to the point where the experience is diluted by the crowd itself. On a Tuesday morning in late April, with the light in the right place and the avenue to yourself for 20 minutes, it is one of the finest autumn experiences in Australia. The same logic applies to Forest Glade — weekday entry is $15 rather than $20, parking is easier, and the garden is quieter.
Location & distance guide
Via Calder Freeway (M79) north from Melbourne – Exit at Woodend (approximately 60 km, 55 minutes). Then from Woodend, the loop via Macedon, Mount Macedon, Kyneton, Malmsbury and Gisborne adds approximately 80 km and 2–3 hours depending on stops.
April is the peak month and the Macedon Ranges Autumn Festival runs the entire month with events, food festivals, market days and the garden trail. The colour on Honour Avenue typically peaks in the third and fourth weeks of April. The Autumn Festival Pie Month (April) adds a regional pie trail across bakeries from Kyneton to Malmsbury.
Parking restrictions on Honour Avenue are enforced (no stopping 9am–5pm). Centennial Park car park fills quickly on peak weekends so try to arrive before 8:30 am or use the Macedon train station and walk to Centennial Park (700m).
The complimentary shuttle bus with a garden ticket purchase runs every weekend and public holiday in April 2026. Pre-book your garden ticket online. The shuttle loops from the car park to all three gardens offering unlimited hop-on hop-off with a single ticket purchase.
By train: V/Line Bendigo line stops at Woodend (50 min from Southern Cross). Macedon station (with the shuttle bus starting point at Centennial Park nearby) is also on this line. The Kyneton and Gisborne sections require a car.
Local Vic 