The 27,750-hectare (68,600-acre) national park is set in the northern foothills of the Central Highlands, approximately 111 kilometres (69 mi) northeast of Melbourne and abuts the shores of Lake Eildon.

The Goulburn River Valley supported a population of hundreds of members of the Aboriginal Australian group known as the Taungurung people.

The park is mountainous, with peaks up to 900 metres (3,000 ft), and includes the edge of the Cerberean Caldera, a Supervolcano around 27 kilometres (17 mi) across which was active around 380 million years ago.

It is thought that the Cerberean Caldera underwent a super eruption 374 Mya, which in turn would have contributed to the Late Devonian extinction event.

Main eucalypt species are stringybarks, peppermints, Red Box and Candlebark with areas of Mountain Ash and Blue Gum.