About 7kms out of Daylesford in Victoria there is a secret place. A place to sneak off to when the pressures of the city get you down. Just off the Midland highway you’ll find the turn off to Mt Franklin. It looks a bit like a pine tree covered pimple rising out of a yellow wheat field. The road corkscrews up and around the small extinct volcano and suddenly we find ourselves in the shelter of the crater, in a wooded garden. The campsites are well marked on the grassed areas and deciduous trees shelter us. The crater rim blocks out the harsh summer wind and we feel like we’ve just found our secret place.

Before breakfast we walk up the dirt road to the top of the crater to see the view that has been mostly blocked out by tall pines. But the walk through the pine forest gets our blood pumping and leaves us feeling ready to face the day.

Mt Franklin Reserve, dog friendly freedom camp in Mt Franklin Forest. Can be accessed from Mt Franklin Road which runs off the Midland Highway between Castlemaine and Daylesford. Services provided: Toilets, fire pits, clean fresh air and tranquility.