Orbost

East Gippsland Snowy River town with rail-trail history, forest walks, and coastal backroads.

Orbost is a small East Gippsland town on the Snowy River, inland from Marlo and the coast. It looks like a service stop on the Princes Highway, but it has enough local texture for a spare day: river flats, timber history, the East Gippsland Rail Trail, and access to pockets of rainforest and palm country that feel far removed from the dry inland road.

The town's best sight is the river corridor. Forest Park sits beside the Snowy near the visitor centre, while the restored Snowy Rail Bridge gives the old railway line a dramatic shape across the floodplain. Cyclists use Orbost as the eastern end of the East Gippsland Rail Trail.

Orbost also works as a base for short nature trips. The Cabbage Tree Palms Walk protects an unusual southern stand of palms east of town, and Marlo puts the mouth of the Snowy and the Bass Strait coast within an easy drive.

Guide

Getting There

Orbost is on the Princes Highway in far eastern Victoria, roughly 60 km east of Lakes Entrance. V/Line coaches connect through Bairnsdale, where trains continue to Melbourne, but a car is much more useful for the coast, forest reserves, and rail-trail access points around town.

Guide

Things to Do

Orbost is about the Snowy River, the old rail line, and the forests east of town. Most visitors will want a vehicle, though Forest Park and the visitor centre are easy stops from the highway.