Yarra Ranges National Park

Yarra Ranges National Park Victoria
IUCN category II (national park)
A waterfall in the national park near Marysville
Yarra Ranges National Park
Nearest town or city	Melbourne
Coordinates	37°40′50″S 145°59′27″E / 37.68056°S 145.99083°E / -37.68056; 145.99083
Established	December 1995 (1995-12)[1]
Area	760 km2 (293.4 sq mi)[1]
Visitation	800,000 (in 2002)[1]
Managing authorities	Parks Victoria
Website	Yarra Ranges National Park
See also	Protected areas of Victoria

Yarra Ranges National Park is located in the Central Highlands of Australia's southeastern state, Victoria, roughly 107 km (66.5 mi) northeast of Melbourne. Established in 1995, and managed by the statutory authority Parks Victoria, the park features a carbon-rich, temperate rainforest as well as a subalpine, eucalypt-dominant forest on its northern plateau. The park is home to large groves of mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans), the tallest species of tree in Australia, and among the tallest in the world, with specimens reaching 80 metres (262 ft) in height.^[2] A wide diversity of flora, fauna and fungi (nearly 6,000 documented species on iNaturalist.org)^[3] make their home across the park's 76,003 hectares, including iconic Australian species such as bandicoots, echidnas, kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, possums, sugar and greater gliders, wallabies and wombats. There are nearly 200 documented species of birds in the area, with at least 60 herpetofaunal (reptile and amphibian) species, thousands of invertebrates and worms, over 900 types of fungi and mushrooms, and over 1,000 plant species. Among the conservation challenges facing Yarra Ranges National Park are climate change and invasive species of weeds, as well as the interaction of native species with non-native, introduced invasive animals, such as European hares and rabbits, domestic sheep, feral cats and dogs, red foxes, South Asian sambar deer, and European red and fallow deer.^[4]

In winter, Lake Mountain, located on the plateau at the northern end of the park, provides cross-country skiing on both groomed and ungroomed ski trails.