Little River
Postcode: 3211
Little River is a rural township north of Geelong and is 51 km west-southwest of Melbourne along the Princes Freeway. The area of town north of the river is part of the City of Wyndham while the area south of the river is part of the City of Greater Geelong. Australian rock band Little River Band is named after Little River after seeing it on a road sign on the way to a gig in Geelong.
The Little River has headwaters in the nearby Brisbane Ranges. It was also known as the Cocoroc Rivulet, Cocoroc being a locality near the area. The road from Melbourne to Geelong once crossed the Little River and the Travellers Rest Inn was opened there in about 1840.
It had been one of the Port Phillip Association’s pastoral runs (the first occupier being James Simpson), and later a large part of the district was included in the Chirnside estate centred on Werribee. Early on small farmers had the benefit of an 80 km² common for grazing.
The township has a petrol station, a primary school, a kingergarden, a pub, a cricket ground and several churches. Visitors from Melbourne pass through the town on the way to the You Yangs Regional Park and the Little River Earth Sanctuary.