Loves creek walk in the Otway Forest Park

This short dog friendly Loves Creek bush walk leaves from a pretty picnic area on the side of the Colac-Lavers Hill Road in Kawarren, a 15 minute drive south from Colac.

Track Notes

Distance: 500 metre loop

Track Grade: Grade 2 (government classified in more to explore app).

Dogs: Dogs allowed on lead – yay!

Walk Highlights: This walk starts in a picnic area near a pretty creek and takes you through a loop of lovely tall trees. It is a really great option for people with small children (I reckon you could get an offroad pram along it), people that need a rest along the way and for overweight and obese beginner bush walkers to do a loop that is achievable. It’s also good for people with dogs and a chance to stretch your legs on a longer trip.

Much of the loves creek track is wide and flat

Who should skip it: This is a lovely little walk and usually has few to no other people and it’s a nice choice if you have done all the other walks. But there are nicer walks in the Otways with less road-noise, more ferns if you are fit enough to do longer options.

Getting There: This walk leaves from a picnic area in Kawarren on the Colac-Lavers Hill Road. Blink and you will miss it so pay attention to the GPS. ha. It’s about 15 minutes from colac, or 1 hour 20 minutes from Geelong and 2h 10 from Melbourne.

To make this short walk worth the drive for fitter people and dogs you may like to combine it with walking a section of the Old Beechy rail trail that leaves from across the road.

This walk is Dog Friendly (if you zoom in far enough on the app its labelled Otway Forest Park – you are allowed dogs everywhere in the Forest Park (+ I confirmed via email with the department).

I also think you would be able to get a wheelchair along the first half of this walk (going in a clockwise direction however the second part of the loop narrows and had some slopes so I think the angle would be to hard.

It also has seats for resting so is a good option for someone who just wants to do part of a walk.

You can see government information on this walk ( a small amount) on the More to Explore app which is actually turning into a really great resource. (It’s almost guaranteed they will break that link next time they change department names but it shows up if you google it).

Track Grade 2

The user guide to the Australian Walking Track Grading system says grade two is ‘No bushwalking experience required. The track is a hardened or compacted surface and may have a gentle hill section or sections and occasional steps. Walks no greater than 10km.’

Share this page or save for later!