A History of Camp Crusty: From Logging Camp to Caravan Park

The story of Camp Crusty begins in the early 1930s, when the dense forests of Mystic Mountain were being harvested for timber to fuel the building boom in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

A small logging camp was established at the base of the mountain, where Morse Creek provided water and the flat ground offered space for tents and rudimentary shelters. Timber workers would spend weeks at a time at the camp, felling trees on the mountainside and floating logs down the creek to the sawmill in Bright.

By the late 1940s, as logging operations wound down, the camp site had become popular with holidaymakers from Melbourne who were discovering the beauty of the Alpine region. Local families began allowing visitors to pitch tents on the old logging site, drawn by the same qualities that made it a good camp in the first place — flat ground, shade, water, and stunning mountain views.

In the 1950s, the site was formally established as a caravan park, and the first permanent facilities were built. The old logging tracks up Mystic Mountain gradually became walking trails, and later, the mountain bike trails that have made the area famous.

Today, Camp Crusty honours this heritage while providing modern comforts. Some of the original trees planted by the logging camp workers still stand, and the layout of the park follows the contours established nearly a century ago. When you stay at Camp Crusty, you're part of a story that stretches back to the pioneers of the Alpine region.