Hills of the Strzelecki Ranges rise over 500 metres (1,600 ft) immediately to the south of the town, providing a spectacular backdrop, while the Moe River and the lowlands lie to the north and east.

The Post Office opened around October 1878 as Waterloo, Gippsland and was renamed Yarragon in 1883.

[2] Significant expansion of facilities and businesses along Yarragon's main Princes Highway streetscape since the 1990s aimed at capitalising on the tourist potential of passing traffic has resulted in the town being informally dubbed 'Yarragon Village'.

[citation needed] Yarragon has two weekly local newspapers, The Warragul and Drouin Gazette and a free publication, The West Gippsland Trader.

According to the Warragul Regional Newspapers website,[3] The Gazette and The Trader are distributed to locations from as far as Pakenham to Moe and from Poowong to Noojee covering over 40,000 readers.