Lara is a town in Victoria, 18 km north-east of the Geelong CBD, inland from the Princes Freeway to Melbourne.

Lara and its surrounding land was occupied for tens of thousands of years before European colonisation by the Wadawurrung people.

They recorded that the Aboriginals described the bay as Djillong and land as Corayo, suggesting origins for the names of Geelong and Corio.

A Post Office opened on 1 March 1858 as Duck Ponds, renamed Hovell's Creek in 1872, and finally Lara in 1884.

[6][7][8] The town's history is being preserved at the Lara Museum and Historical Centre on the corner of Forest and Canterbury roads.

Owing to the poor soils and low runoff inherent in Australian streams, along with the fact the region is the driest in southern Victoria because of the Otway Ranges’ rain shadow (receiving about 425 millimetres (17 in) per year), the creek is ephemeral and is not useful as a water source.

Granite peaks known as the You Yangs, 4 kilometres north of Lara, rise dramatically to a height of 352m and can be seen from most areas of Geelong.

The former Pirra Homestead, a home for girls age 13 to 18, part of the Victorian youth welfare system, closed during the 1980s.

Lara is home to St Laurence Park retirement village, which is set on 42 acres (170,000 m2) of parkland near the centre of the town.

[13] Ford Australia operates a proving grounds for automotive testing and evaluation at the north end of the You Yangs.

The cleaning-up started in September 2019 and ended in June 2022, contractors handling large amounts of timber and soil as well as concrete, bricks, plaster, plastic, glass and ceramics.