350 million years in the making. A future for everyone.

Before there was a mountain, there was molten rock.

The granite of this part of western Victoria formed around 350 million years ago, when magma cooled slowly two to five kilometres below the surface. That's more than 100 million years before the first dinosaurs.

For most of that time, the granite stayed buried. Over roughly the last 15 million years, erosion stripped away the rock above it and exposed the hard core we now see as Langi Ghiran's peaks. Weathering did the rest, breaking the granite into rounded tors and boulders, sandy gravels and clays.

Geologists use Langi Ghiran as the reference example for how groundwater moves through fractured granite across this part of western Victoria.

Lar-ne-jeering: Home of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.

Long before Mitchell's expedition, this was Country. Langi Ghiran is the anglicised form of Lar-ne-jeering, the mountain's name in the language of the Djab Wurrung people. Parks Victoria recognises its cultural and spiritual significance to the Djab Wurrung people, and the park as part of the Aboriginal cultural landscape of the Eastern Maar Peoples.

This corner of Victoria holds one of the richest bodies of Aboriginal rock art in the country. Gariwerd, the ranges just to the west, has the highest concentration of rock art in south-east Australia, with hundreds of sites across the mountains. Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali Country holds the great majority of Victoria's known Aboriginal rock art.

Langi Ghiran has its own. On the Lar-ne-jeering walk, a rock art site and rock shelter sit among the granite boulders. The paintings are faded now and protected from damage. Parks Victoria describes them as a testament to a long history and an enduring connection to Country.

The stories behind the art belong to the Traditional Owners, and it isn't our place to tell them. What we can do is look after our part of the landscape with respect, and encourage visitors to treat these places the same way.

LG Recycling acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Lar-ne-jeering and respects their enduring connection to this Country.

Giving back what was taken, one load at a time.

Sand extraction changed the original landform and left areas of disturbed ground. The landscape next door shows what this country can be: granite peaks, open woodland, River Red Gums and Yellow Box, and wildlife from kangaroos and echidnas to Wedge-tailed Eagles.

Every suitable load of soil that arrives at LG Recycling helps rebuild the landform: reshaping slopes and restoring levels so the ground can hold vegetation again. As each area is finished, the aim is native vegetation that belongs here, taking its cue from the woodland across the boundary.

Revegetation species and staging will be published once the rehabilitation plan is confirmed.

A former quarry people can ride, walk and enjoy.

Rehabilitation isn't only about how the land looks. It's about who gets to use it. The restored land is being turned into a downhill mountain-bike park: three runs graded beginner, intermediate and expert, a kids’ jump park at the bottom for younger riders, and a pulley lift to take riders back up the hill, so they can spend their time riding rather than pushing. Off to the side, 16 glamping sites will let visitors stay the night.

Around the track, the vision is open space for families, walkers and visitors, sitting alongside one of western Victoria's most distinctive natural landscapes and the walks of Langi Ghiran State Park next door. It would also give visitors to the Grampians region another reason to stop and stay.

It's a simple idea: the soil that helps rebuild the land also helps build something the whole community can enjoy, for generations.

The bike park is coming in 2030. Track layout and access arrangements are still being planned.