Bright is one of those towns I always drive through on the way to somewhere else, and I’m starting to think that’s been the mistake. It sits at the bottom of a valley in north-east Victoria with mountain roads heading off in just about every direction, which makes it a pretty good base if your idea of a weekend away is mostly sitting behind a steering wheel.
The better way to do it, I reckon, is to park the car in Bright for a long weekend and use the town as a hub. Head out on a different road each day and come back each night. Here are the drives I think are worth your petrol, plus a few things worth knowing before you go.
Great Alpine Road from Bright to Mount Hotham
If you only do one drive from Bright, this is it. The Great Alpine Road runs right through the middle of town, and if you point the car south-east it climbs through Harrietville and up to Mount Hotham. According to Visit Bright, it tops out at 1,825 metres at The Cross, which makes it the highest sealed road in the country. I’m not sure that’s something you can feel from the driver’s seat, but your ears will probably notice.
It’s roughly 55 to 56 km from Bright to Hotham one way. The first stretch through the Ovens Valley is gentle and pretty. Then the road gets serious after Harrietville, with tight switchbacks, steep drops and the kind of corners that make you glad you checked your brakes before leaving home. There are a few lookouts on the way up, including Danny’s Lookout, which is a good excuse to pull over and let the faster guy behind you go past.
If you want to keep going, Dinner Plain is just over the top. One Bright scenic drives guide puts the round trip at about 133 km, and notes that Hotham’s winter entry fee doesn’t apply if you drive straight through to Dinner Plain without stopping.
One thing you can’t skip: during the declared snow season, every vehicle heading into Hotham has to carry diamond-pattern snow chains, and that includes 4WDs. In 2026 the season runs from 7 June to 4 October. So if you’re heading up this winter, sort your chains out before you leave Bright. If you’re just there for the drive, spring through autumn is the sweet spot.
Tawonga Gap Road from Bright to Mount Beauty
Tawonga Gap Road is the short, sharp option. It leaves the Great Alpine Road at Germantown, just out of Bright, and hairpins its way over a ridge before dropping down into the Kiewa Valley and Mount Beauty. It’s not a long drive, but it’s busy with corners in a way that keeps you awake.
The road peaks at the Tawonga Gap Lookout, which according to this local history piece sits at 895 metres and looks across to Mount Bogong, Victoria’s highest mountain. There’s a plaque at the top about the road being built in the 1890s so Tawonga farmers could get their butter and livestock over to Bright, which I think is a nicer origin story than most roads get. A bit further down the Mount Beauty side is Sullivans Lookout, with views over the town and its pondage.
A word of warning: you’ll share this road with a lot of cyclists, because it’s one of the popular climbs in the region. Be patient, give them room and don’t be that guy.
If you’d rather not drive back the same way, there’s a loop through Happy Valley that I’ve covered further down.
Mount Buffalo Road
Mount Buffalo is the big granite lump you can see from just about everywhere around Bright, and the road up it is probably my favourite of the lot. You turn off the Great Alpine Road at Porepunkah and climb through forest until the trees open up onto a plateau that looks like nowhere else in Victoria.
The first big stop is the Gorge, where the old Mount Buffalo Chalet sits right on the edge. Parks Victoria says the Gorge is perched on 200 metre sheer cliffs, and I believe them, because I wasn’t about to lean over and check.
Keep going and you’ll end up at The Horn, which at 1,723 metres is the highest point in the park. The last section, Horn Road, is unsealed and can get dusty and rough, so if you’re in something low and shiny, you might want to stop at the picnic area and walk the rest. The walk up to the lookout only takes about 45 minutes return, which feels like a fair trade for 360 degree views.
The round trip from Porepunkah to The Horn is about 74 km. In winter you can usually only drive as far as Cresta Valley, and you’ll need chains. Watch for wildlife on the main road too, especially around dawn and dusk, because a wallaby doesn’t care how nice your paintwork is.
Bogong High Plains Road and the Falls Creek loop
This is the big one, and you’ll want a full day and a full tank. Head over Tawonga Gap to Mount Beauty, then take the Bogong High Plains Road up to Falls Creek. Instead of turning around at the top, keep going across the high plains to Omeo, then swing back onto the Great Alpine Road and come home over Mount Hotham and down through Harrietville.
I’ve seen this loop quoted at around 240 km, and it covers pretty much every kind of mountain road the region has. Tight climbs, open alpine plains, snow gums, old cattlemen’s huts and a few stretches where you won’t see another car for a while. I’m not sure there’s a better day of driving in Victoria, but if you know one, I’d like to hear about it.
The catch is timing. The section of Bogong High Plains Road beyond Falls Creek village is closed through the snow season, so the full loop is really a late spring to autumn drive. The road between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek has also had landslip closures in recent years, so check VicRoads on the morning you head out rather than trusting whatever your GPS thinks.
Happy Valley Road loop via Mount Beauty
Not every drive needs a summit. This one is for the day after the big loop, when your shoulders are tired and you just want to cruise. Go over Tawonga Gap to Mount Beauty, head north on the Kiewa Valley Highway to Running Creek, then turn onto Happy Valley Road and follow it back to the Great Alpine Road. From there it’s an easy run home through Ovens and Porepunkah.
One local drives guide puts it at about 116 km return. You still get the Tawonga Gap hairpins at the start, but the back half is farmland, quiet valleys and the odd farm gate selling whatever’s in season. It’s the kind of road where you wind the window down and stop checking the clock.
Where to park the car overnight in Bright
Here’s the bit nobody tells you. Bright is a small town that fills up fast, especially in autumn and on long weekends, and I suspect plenty of the places to stay were built with one small hatchback in mind. If you’ve turned up with a car you actually care about, or a friend following in a second car, parking becomes a real question.
That’s why I’d look for somewhere with proper off-street parking before anything else. If you want accommodation in Bright that takes parking seriously, one option is Autumn Beauty Cottages, a small group of self-contained cottages at 5 Turntable Terrace, Bright VIC. Each cottage comes with a double carpark, which their own site admits is a bit of a rarity in town. There’s also a lock-up bike shed, which is handy if half your group came for the cycling and the other half came for the corners.
The other thing I like about staying somewhere like this is that once the car is parked, it can stay parked. The cottages sit on the rail trail, about a five minute walk from town, so you can walk in for dinner and a beer at the end of a long day behind the wheel. The gas log fire is a nice touch on a cold alpine night too. One heads-up: the cottages don’t take pets, so the dog will need to stay home.
Which drive around Bright is best?
If you’ve only got one day, do Mount Hotham. If you’ve got a whole weekend and the roads are open, the Falls Creek loop is the one you’ll still be talking about on the drive home. Mount Buffalo sits somewhere in between, and Happy Valley is your recovery lap.
Have you driven any of these? Did I miss a road that should be on the list? Let me know, because there’s always a next trip.
