It is associated with the high-country tradition of alpine grazing, celebrated in the film made around Mansfield, near the now famous Craigs Hut, called The Man from Snowy River (based on a poem by Banjo Paterson).

Mansfield Cemetery is the burial ground for police officers slain by Ned Kelly and his gang at Stringybark Creek.

Dr. John Pearson Rowe (1810–1878) was a physician and squatter who owned the 'Loyola Run' (also known as Mount Battery) near Mansfield.

Reputed as the first Roman Catholic resident of the district, it is recorded that nearby Rochester was named after J. P. Rowe, as he owned land on the Campaspe River.

Acting on Rowe's verified advice, Kennedy and his police party rode into the Wombat Ranges, where three of them were killed; and the Kelly Gang legend was born.

[13] The former Mansfield station building near High Street now serves tourists to the community as a visitor centre.

[14] The area round Mansfield named as Banbury was also the location of the novel The Far Country by Nevil Shute which featured logging on Mount Buller and previous forest fires, which having swept through Howqua obliterated almost all traces of a former settlement.

Ski lifts operate year-round at Mount Buller allowing bikers to easily get to the top of downhill mountain biking runs.

The bushland around Mansfield is used for horse riding, trail biking and four wheel driving on extensive tracks throughout the region.

[18] Mansfield has a temperate mediterranean climate (Csb), with warm dry summers and cool rainy winters.