Explore Beech Forest, Victoria, Australia, with this interactive street and satellite map. You can “grab” the Beech Forest, VIC map and move it around to re-centre it. You can change between standard map view and satellite map view by clicking the small square in the bottom left-hand corner of the map. You can use the zoom buttons on the lower right side of the map to zoom in or out to street-level detail.
This page also offers TOPO MAPS — Geoscience Australia topographic mapping and the classic NATMAP 1:250 000 sheets — plus a labelled MGA grid overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a GPS grid-reference readout. See How to Use This Map below. You will find live weather, local and world news further down the page.
This interactive map shows the street layout and satellite imagery for Beech Forest, Victoria, Australia. Use the Map and Satellite buttons above to switch between street map and aerial imagery views. Use the + and − buttons to zoom in or out, or scroll your mouse wheel while holding the Control key to zoom. On a touchscreen, use a two-finger pinch gesture to zoom in and out.
Click ⛶ Fullscreen to expand the map to fill your screen for a larger view. To return to the normal page view, press the Escape key on your keyboard, click the ✕ Exit Fullscreen button that appears above the map, or on a mobile device tap the back button (Android) or the close icon (iOS).
Drag the map to pan to any area of Victoria or beyond. Switch to Satellite view to see high-resolution aerial photography of Beech Forest and surrounding areas, including streets, buildings, parks and waterways.
TOPO MAPS — NEW. Click the green 🔍 Search Maps button below the map to open a second map with a Base map row offering three choices. OSM is the standard OpenStreetMap street map. Topo shows the Geoscience Australia National Base Map — seamless topographic mapping covering the mainland, Tasmania and the external territories. NATMAP 250K shows the classic NATMAP 1:250 000 map sheets, mosaicked nationwide — the printed sheets generations of Australians navigated the outback with. The search box finds any Australian town, suburb or landmark by name, so you are not limited to Beech Forest.
Reading the map like a paper sheet. Click Grid to overlay the Map Grid of Australia (MGA), labelled along the edges exactly as a printed topographic sheet is — at normal zoom the squares are one kilometre across, so you can read a six-figure grid reference by eye and judge distance directly off the map. Click Measure, then tap two points, to get the distance between them together with the grid bearing in degrees and mils, the true bearing, and the magnetic bearing to set on a compass.
Click 📍 My position to take a single GPS reading from your device. It marks where you are and reports your position as an MGA grid reference as well as plain latitude and longitude — the grid reference being what emergency services and search and rescue work from — with a Copy position button so you can paste it straight into a text message. It takes one reading and stops, rather than tracking continuously, to conserve your battery. Note that map tiles need mobile coverage, but a GPS reading does not — your coordinates stay correct even where the map itself cannot load, which across much of inland Australia is most of the time.
Map search is available for a limited number of queries per session to manage costs. Be specific — search precisely for best results.
| Locality | Beech Forest |
| State | Victoria (VIC) |
| Local Government Area | Colac Otway Shire |
| Country | Australia |
| Timezone | Australian Eastern Time (AEST/AEDT) |
| Remoteness | Outer Regional Australia |
| Latitude | -38.6357 |
| Longitude | 143.60226 |
| Population | 89 |
| Density | 0.6 /km² |
| Area | 148.3 km² |
| Elevation | 513 m |
| Postcode | 3237 |
| Area Code | 03 |
| Distance to Melbourne | 150 km southwest |
Beech Forest is a locality in the Colac Otway Shire local government area of Victoria, Australia. It is a small community with a population of 89. The locality covers an area of 148.3 km², giving a population density of about 0.6 people per km². It sits at an elevation of around 513 m above sea level. It lies approximately 150 km southwest of Melbourne. Beech Forest is located at 38.6357°S, 143.6023°E. It observes Australian Eastern Time (AEST/AEDT). Postcode: 3237. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies the area as Outer Regional Australia.
Beech Forest rests in a pocket of the Otway Ranges where the air carries the damp, earthy scent of ancient trees and the muted chatter of unseen birds. It lies 85.6 km south-west of Geelong, VIC (from Geelong, VIC: bearing 231°T), and is situated 11.6 km north-north-west of Apollo Bay. The landscape here is a generous, rolling embrace of verdant hills, cloaked in dense, temperate rainforest that spills down into gullies and climbs towards mist-shrouded peaks. Sunlight, when it breaks through the thick canopy, filters down in shafts of soft, diffused gold, illuminating the mossy bark of towering mountain ash and the vibrant green of ferns unfurling on the forest floor. A quiet stillness often settles over Beech Forest, a profound peace broken only by the rustle of leaves or the distant murmur of a hidden creek, creating a sense of being held within a living, breathing organism.
The character of Beech Forest is deeply tied to its timber history, a legacy etched into the very soil and the broad shoulders of the surrounding eucalypt forests. For generations, logging has been the lifeblood of this remote settlement, shaping its economy and the stoic resilience of its people. While the industry has evolved, the spirit of hard work and self-sufficiency remains, evident in the small, well-kept farms and grazing properties that dot the cleared pockets of the hillsides. The local dairy farms, their paddocks often slick with morning dew, contribute to the region’s reputation for quality produce, a quiet testament to the land’s enduring bounty. Visitors, drawn by the promise of the Great Ocean Road’s nearby splendour, often find themselves lingering in Beech Forest, captivated by its understated charm and the palpable sense of connection to a wilder, more untamed Australia.
Sources: curated tourist landmarks, CAPAD 2024 (Australian protected areas), OpenStreetMap.
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This page provides a street and satellite map of Beech Forest, Victoria. Live weather conditions with current observations and a 7-day forecast are powered by Open-Meteo. Real-time local news and world news feeds keep the page current, while an editorially written description provides background on Beech Forest, in the Colac Otway Shire local government area.
Detailed location data for Beech Forest includes the postcode (3237), telephone area code (03), and local government area (Colac Otway Shire), with an ABS remoteness classification of Outer Regional Australia. These are among the most commonly searched location details for any Australian city, town or locality.
Search Maps opens a second, independent map. It searches OpenStreetMap for any Australian town, suburb or landmark by name; offers Geoscience Australia topographic mapping and the classic NATMAP 1:250 000 sheets as base layers; overlays a labelled Map Grid of Australia (MGA) so the map can be read like a printed topographic sheet; measures distance and grid, true and magnetic bearings between any two points; and takes a single GPS fix reporting your position as an MGA grid reference and as latitude and longitude. Map tiles require mobile coverage, but a GPS position does not, so the coordinates remain correct even where the map cannot load.
Location data is drawn from Geoscape Administrative Boundaries (GDA2020) and enriched with GeoNames and Australian Bureau of Statistics data, matched by coordinate proximity — ensuring the correct Beech Forest is identified even where the name is shared across multiple localities.
| Page generated | October 2026 |
| Location data | Geoscape Administrative Boundaries (GDA2020); enriched with GeoNames and ABS 2021 Census data, matched by coordinate proximity |
| Map layers | Google Maps; © OpenStreetMap contributors; © Geoscience Australia National Base Map and NATMAP 1:250 000 (CC BY 4.0); magnetic declination from NOAA NCEI (World Magnetic Model) |
| Description | Editorial description generated with AI assistance from verified Geoscape, ABS and GeoNames location data. |