About Casterton

Casterton is located within the Glenelg Shire, in the far southwestern region of Victoria. Casterton is an historic rural service town situated on the banks of the Glenelg River in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. Situated 352km west of Melbourne and 63kms west of Hamilton and 45mins to Mount Gambier just over the SA border.

Casterton is the ‘Birthplace of the Kelpie’ breed and an annual event the ‘Australian Kelpie Muster’ held over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June celebrates this iconic Australian and the rich heritage of the town. The landscape around the town includes mixed farming, sheep, cattle, dairying as well as plantation forestry. Casterton is a service centre for retail trade, farming and forestry services, health, education, Government and community services that support the nearly 1,800 residents within the township but totalling 4,000 when considering the surrounding districts reliance on Casterton as their service base. Casterton provides residents and visitors alike excellent opportunities through the hospital offering 24 hour accident & emergency, acute & aged care services supported by 4 local GP’s. The CBD precinct offers excellent opportunities for shopping, dining and accommodation.

Like most rural communities, Casterton residents have a strong interest and participation in a variety of sporting and recreational activities. The Island Park Reserve offers over 17ha of facilities with two ovals, swimming pool, netball & tennis courts, bowling green, croquet, band center and caravan park to name a few. The golf course setting is a draw card for players from near and far and the historic racecourse has many stories to tell. The annual Casterton Cup Day is held in May.

Visitors often comment on our welcoming, friendly attitude and relaxed lifestyle. So come and visit us and meander along the Kelpie Walking Trail and view the five unique kelpie sculptures, historic parts of Casterton, the parklands, the river and keep an eye out the Red Tailed Black Cockatoo.

Visit the Australian Kelpie Centre which was officially opened in June 2018 to mark Casterton’s position as the ‘Birthplace of the Kelpie’ or do some shopping in one of our specialty stores or browse through the antique/collectables shops or just simply relax with a coffee in one of our eateries.