Rising from the plain near Woodend in the Macedon Ranges, Hanging Rock is a jumble of strange volcanic pinnacles and balancing boulders, a mound of solidified lava weathered into eerie shapes. A short, steep walk climbs among the rocks past the Hanging Rock itself and the Colonnade to a summit view over the ranges. The place is woven into the national imagination by Joan Lindsay's novel and Peter Weir's film Picnic at Hanging Rock, and retains an undeniable atmosphere - cool, shadowed, faintly unsettling. It is a significant Aboriginal site and a much-loved day trip from Melbourne, best on a quiet weekday.