St Arnaud is located approximately 240 kilometres north west of Melbourne and tucked away on a quiet back road is an impressive natural feature of the Victorian landscape. Bell Rock is located roughly at the end of Butcher Street, which starts out as a standard paved surface road before it becomes a gravel track.
We located Butcher Street via our GPS and from there. the GPS became confused, so instinctively and with much hope, we followed the track along to where we came to a Y junction and found a well disguised green Parks Victoria sign indicating Bell Rock was on the right branch of the Y.
The track into Bell Rock is reasonably accessible via car, but if you do not like to take your car on dirt roads, it is not recommended. The track can be a bit bumpy and if you miss the turn off, like we did, you will appreciate a four-wheel drive vehicle as the rest of the track is quite eroded from recent heavy rains.
For the challenges of getting to the rock, it was worth the effort. The view of the surrounding area was quite breathtaking, overlooking farm and bushland alike. At the top of the hill, where Bell Rock is situated, there is a form of bush roundabout, so you do not need to worry about how you will turn your car around once you reach the top, along with a picnic table and parking for about three or four cars. Unfortunately, there are no toilet facilities there, but being only a short distance from town, it is recommended you go before your adventure.
Aptly named Bell Rock due to its similarities in shape to a bell, it is considered the tail end of the Great Dividing Range, which makes it part of the oldest rock formation in the state of Victoria. If you look closely at the exposed face of the rock, you can see the different layers of sediment that was being deposited when Victoria and even Australia was forming way back in the Cambrian era.
