Each reserve has its own character and charm. How then to decide which springs to visit? This quick and handy guide will get you started…

FOR A BIG OL’ EXTENDED-FAMILY GATHERING

What with Covid putting a dampener on birthdays and anniversaries and other special events, there are sure to be plenty of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and new babies that need an outdoor catch up. Hepburn Mineral Springs Reserve is the perfect place for such a gathering. There’s a stage for the kids to get theatrical, tables or grassy knolls for picnics, barbecues for the culinarily inclined, and a number of different spring outlets for those family members who wish to ‘take the waters’.

Runner up: Taradale Mineral Springs Reserve has an excellent playground, plenty of space to spread out, and a bucolic walk to view the stately Taradale Viaduct.

BEST FOR A SECLUDED PICNIC

If off-the-beaten-track is what you’re seeking, Woolnoughs Crossing Mineral Spring is the spring for you. The water that gushes from the pump is pleasantly effervescent, but it’s the rural quietude that’s really the draw here, with nothing but the carols of magpies and the croaks of frogs to disturb your solitude.

Runner up: Leitches Creek Mineral Spring, a short drive from Daylesford, is one of the lesser known locations in the region. Surrounded by picturesque forest and farmland, you might find you have the entire place to yourself.

BEST FOR PUMPING NATURAL WATER

With the likes of Capi and Kyneton Mineral Water bottling the stuff, I think we can safely say that the Kyneton Mineral Springs Reserve has some of the best aqua pura available. It also has a number of charmingly weathered picnic tables under the trees and a couple of exceedingly long swings to test your stomach on.

Runner up: Enjoying/abhorring mineral water is highly subjective, but my preferred drop is at Vaughan Springs Mineral Reserve, where the H2O flows from two pumps and the squeals of kids (and adults) on the giant slide enliven the atmosphere.

BEST FOR SPLASHING IN THE SHALLOWS

With summer almost upon us, one of the best places to be in the Daylesford-Macedon region is ankle-deep in Sailors Creek at Tipperary Springs Reserve. The kids will likely want to go deeper, so don’t forget bathers and a towel!

Runner up: If it’s swimming you’re after, rather than splashing, Lake Daylesford is just five minutes from Tipperary Springs and the ‘beach’ just west of the carpark makes a good paddle-off point. You can also sip from Wombat Flat Mineral Spring post-swim.