A Guide to The Murray Sunset Pink Lakes

Have you heard of the Murray Sunset Pink Lakes in Victoria, Australia? No? I’m sure you’ve seen photos of them though.

It sounds cliche, and perhaps it is, but this hidden spot several hours North of Melbourne is a spot so beautiful, and so peaceful that you’ll never want to leave. If you’re lucky, like we were every time we went, you might even have this picturesque pink lake national park all to yourself.

When we discovered these Pink Lakes tucked away in a remote corner of Victoria, not far from where we were doing our first lot of farm work, they became a haven to us and this week we’re sharing with you everything to do at the Murray Sunset National Park Pink Lakes, and how to make the most of your time there!

Photo by Chris Charles on Unsplash

About Murray Sunset National Park Pink Lakes

Within the Murray Sunset National Park lies a cluster of Pink Salt lakes, the type of place you see on the viral videos and Instagram posts; Only these Pink Lakes in Victoria lay mostly untouched by tourists. They’re a true Australian hidden gem.

Unlike pink lakes closer to the city that are only pink seasonally, these ones remain pink throughout the year thanks to their unique salt base.

It isn’t the salt that’s pink either! The beautiful colour of the Murray sunset pink lakes is created by unique algae that have adapted to live in salty waters, and on overcast days will be when you can see the colour more clearly.

Where Is Murray Sunset National Park?

So you’re ready for an adventure? Murray Sunset National Park can be found in the North Eastern corner of Victoria state, boarding South Australia.

It’s Victoria’s biggest national park, but it’s one heck of an adventure to get there from the more popular city destinations, taking you roughly 6 hours from Melbourne, or 4 from Adelaide. 

As you can imagine, Murray Sunset National Park isn’t an easy day trip from Melbourne or Adelaide. In fact, most people visiting this unique set of pink lakes in Victoria are either locals, backpackers living in the area to complete their visa requirements, 4wd enthusiasts or van lifers looking for a detour while road tripping from Adelaide to Darwin.

If you want a beautiful pink lake mostly to yourself, these are the ones to go to!

Things To Do In Murray Sunset National Park

It’s not just the Pink Lakes at Murray Sunset National Park that make this area so appealing – although they are the main draw, we can’t lie about that!

All around the edges of these pink lakes you’ll find salt mine relics that have been left behind from the salt industry that ceased in 1979. 

Given that it’s Victoria’s largest national park, and much of it is only accessible with a 4wd, here are some other things to do in Murray Sunset National Park, close to the Pink Lakes:

Pioneer Drive 

This short and relatively easy drive offers great views of the Pink Lakes in Murray Sunset National park, from Lake Crosbie to Lake Kenyon and Lake Becking. It is a dirt track but if our 15 year old van can make it, I’m sure you can too.

Caption: Might Mo Parked Next To One Of The Pink Lakes In Murray Sunset National Park

Salt Museum

A quick pit stop while on Pioneer Drive, the Salt Museum is more of an information board that details the area and explains more about the salt mine machinery that’s abundant nearby. Learn about the hard life salt miners had in the area, and see how well the equipment is holding up in the salty air 45 years later.

Kline Loop Nature Walk

This track is a 4.8km, 2 hours, loop track that starts from the Main Campground at Lake Crosbie. It follows a sandy track through the bushlands and gives you great views over the Murray Sunset Pink Lakes as well as perfect opportunities to see wild Emu, Kangaroo and birdlife that call this area home.

Dogs are not allowed inside Murray Sunset National Park

Lake Hardy Nature Walk

A 1.7km, 45 minute, nature walk that navigates the edge of Lake Hardy – one of the Pink Lakes in Murray Sunset National Park. Gives some great views of the area and again, good opportunities to see the wildlife or, at least, their tracks.

Sunset Remote Walking Track

Fancy a challenge while you’re visiting Murray Sunset National Park? The Sunset Remote Walking Track is a multi-day, 66km, overnight loop track that’s considered an advanced route and probably shouldn’t be tackled in the summer. A great option for people who love bird watching or just getting out in the sticks away from other people.

Lake Becking Nature Walk

Much like the Lake Hardy walk, the one at Lake Becking is a 1.4km, 4o minute, nature walk. Once again, it gives you some great views of the area and Murray Sunset National Park Pink Lakes as well as good opportunities to see the wildlife or, at least, their tracks.

When doing any of these hikes, always carry water and avoid midday. Temps here can get extreme in the summer.

If you’d like a map of Murray Sunset National Park, I highly recommend downloading their visitors guide which is full of seasonal information for your trip to the Pink Lakes!

Best Time To See The Pink Lakes At Murray Sunset National Park

With so many great tracks to do here, when is the best time to see the Pink Lakes at Murray Sunset National Park?

It’s said they’re at their most vivid pink after rain during the Spring & Winter months, and photos turn out the best on an overcast day.

Murray Sunset National Park Weather

Believe me when I say this area of rural Australia gets hot here and there’s not much shade. We spent 4 months in the area working and you really don’t want to underestimate the heat.

If you want to track the weather forecast for Murray Sunset National Park, we recommend this website.

We would really avoid being out on tracks in the middle of summer, and always always take more water than you think you need. The DOC has a guideline of 10ltr of water. 

Murray Sunset National Park Camping

Even though we took our campervan, our work commitments meant we weren’t able to take advantage of the Murray Sunset National Park camping areas.

However, there are a couple of campgrounds for you to choose from if you decide to extend your stay at these Pink Lakes. If you have a 4WD, that opens up your options further, they’re outlined in the visitor guide I linked to.

Here’s a list of the Murray Sunset National Park camping options for 2wd vehicles that aren’t too far from the Pink Lakes:

Lake Crosby / Main Campground (2WD) 

This is the first Murray Sunset camping location that you’ll come across as you enter the national park from the main road, making it the most accessible camping area at the Pink Lakes for 2wd’s.

This campsite has drop toilets, fire pits and picnic benches.

Lake Becking (2WD)

Once you’ve passed Lake Crosby, you’ll find the Lake Becking camping area, the only other camp site at Murray Sunset that’s accessible to 2wds and it was here that we parked our Mo – so any other relatively low van’s will be fine.

This campsite has drop toilets, fire pits and picnic benches.

Other Murray Sunset National Park Accommodation

When it comes to other accommodation near Murray Sunset National Park, your options will be limited to one of the main towns either side of it.

This means you have Renmark, across the board in South Australia, or Mildura East of the park in Victoria.

In Mildura, I highly recommend against staying in a hostel if you value your sleep and sanity. They’re a great option for cheap accommodation in the cities but in these farming towns they’re something else (I say this from experience of living in one!)

Thankfully, these days there’s better options available:

Accommodation in Renmark is a bit more limited but will likely offer a quieter stay as it’s a little less popular with backpackers. The BIG4 campsites are always a great option for families, checkout what’s available in Renmark here

Top Tip: If you’re planning to head to New Zealand, grab yourself a BIG4 camping membership as you get big discounts on accommodation and activities across Australia and New Zealand. Likewise, if you have a New Zealand Top10 Memberhips your card will work in Australia too!

Our Experiences At Murray Sunset Pink Lakes

Living in a working hostel has its ups and downs but on this particular weekend Dec, myself and a couple of friends were itching to get away from the chaos of living with 30 other people.

We’d heard about Murray Sunset National Park from one of the locals, so we packed up the van and headed off in search of these mysterious pink lakes that were touted to us as a local’s secret.

They weren’t wrong.

As we turned off the Calder Highway and onto the dirt track at Linga, leading into Murray Sunset National Park, we put all our trust into our 15-year-old van to get us there in one piece. Mighty Mo, despite his age and years of abuse from generations of backpackers, never let us down.

We had seen pink lakes before in Melbourne, but they were always muddy brown or dirty purple if you squinted at it in the right light, so we didn’t have high hopes for the Murray Sunset Pink Lakes.

Oh boy did they blow even our highest of expectations out of the water.

Much like seeing our first outback sunset, our first glimpse of the pink reflecting off the water was breathtaking. It surpassed our expectations and the ‘crust’ around it looked almost beach-like.

We’ve come to anticipate crowds at places like this, yet there we stood, just us, on the edge of the most beautiful pink lakes in Victoria.

We spent hours on the lake, exploring across the salt crust, taking photos and relishing the peace and quiet, grateful that we hadn’t suggested a mini-bus trip with the rest of the hostel. We also vowed to come back to explore more of the tracks, but work never made that possible.

So while I don’t have much else to report on the rest of our day spent at Murray Sunset National Park, I’m sure the photos speak for themselve, I strongly encourage you to take a trip yourself. Especially if you’re living or working around Mildura. It’s a slice of backpacking heaven that you must experience while you’re there.

Keep reading for my top tips on how to make the most of your time at these Pink Lakes in Victoria!

Top Tips For Visiting The Murray Sunset Pink Lakes

• Take plenty of water, it gets hot even when it’s cloudy, and being around this much salt dehydrates you quicker than you think.
• Be cautious around the water; although the one we explored was shallow enough to walk across, not all of them are.
• Take a picnic! Since a lot of the parking here doubles as camping, there are picnic benches here (and toilets) so sit back and enjoy the natural beauty. It’s not often you’ll get something like this all to yourself.
• Look out for snakes! If you haven’t spent much time outside of the cities and towns in Australia, snakes are really easy to forget about but you have to be careful when in bushland areas like Murray Sunset National Park. Don’t wear flip-flops, Jandles or thongs when walking in bushy areas.
• Get there early, it gets hot quickly, so getting there early means you can get out early too before the sun melts your camera.
• Go with friends! Nothing makes an experience like this better than when you experience it with loved ones!

Have you added the Murray Sunset National Park Pink Lakes onto your Australian itinerary now? Being away from the cities was a highlight of the two years we spent exploring Australia, so if you’re road tripping in the Australian Outback, be sure to check out our other guides!