Lake Mountain (Victoria)
Lake Mountain is a mountain in Victoria, Australia. It stands about 1,433 metres high on a plateau and hosts a cross-country ski resort called Lake Mountain Alpine Resort. It is roughly 120 kilometres north-east of Melbourne. There is no lake at Lake Mountain.
The highest cross-country trail from Lake Mountain reaches Mount Bullfight, around 1,483 metres. In winter, access to the summit of Lake Mountain is only by a snowshoe track.
Lake Mountain Alpine Resort is the most visited ski site in Australia, largely because it’s close to Melbourne. The resort sits inside Yarra Ranges National Park and is surrounded by the Shire of Murrindindi and the Yarra Ranges Shire. The area is not a town; it’s an on-mountain recreation area run by the Victoria government.
The resort offers about 37 kilometres of cross-country ski trails. Snowboarding and walking on the ski trails aren’t allowed. There are up to seven toboggan runs, with two main runs open to the public. The Day Visitor Centre sits next to one main run. The Heights Bar and Café is open year-round. The on-mountain lodge that operated in the off-season (Snow Gum Lodge) was destroyed in the 2009 bushfires, and the resort rebuilt with temporary facilities after the fires.
Lake Mountain is also popular with road cyclists. The climb from Warburton (via Reefton Spur) is about 40 kilometres. The climb from Marysville is about 21.3 kilometres, averaging around 4.3% gradient (the first 4.3 kilometres are steeper, around 8.1%).
Naming notes differ: some say it was named after surveyor-general George Lake, while others say the name comes from nearby tarns and bogs near the summit.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:17 (CET).