Members of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria Bendigo spent several hours picking up rubbish at the Whipstick National Park on Saturday because they were sick of seeing items dumped in the forest.

Bendigo branch president Lynnie Hindle said the group filled four trailers and six utes with general waste and steel. 

Items included gear boxes, engines, old cars, tyres, electrical goods, prams, couches, tyres and mattresses.

"It's just unbelievable what you find," Ms Hindle said.

"(Residents) take the easy way out, they drive into a secluded area and they just dump it.

"It's sad to say that it's locals who are doing it."

Ms Hindle said steep tip fees and a lack of action from the council were to blame for the amount of rubbish in the forest. 

She said a fee of about $50 to take a trailer load to the tip discouraged residents from disposing of their waste responsibly. 

By contrast, Ms Hindle said the Maryborough tip charged no fee, so her colleagues who held a similar rubbish pick-up event in Ballarat and Clunes could dispose of their waste easily. 

But Ms Hindle said the City of Greater Bendigo could play a major role in fixing the problem. 

She lamented the lack of hard rubbish collections in the Greater Bendigo area and said the council should organise a few a year. 

"I think that would take the burden off the broader community or people who live in Bendigo.

"If they knew that these free road-side pick-ups were on, they would put their rubbish out to be collected rather than take it into our national parks and dump it."

Ms Hindle said the council should also provide free tip vouchers. 

"We don't get free tip vouchers in our rates, none of us do. 

"There's a lot of councils in Melbourne that have free tip vouchers attached to the bottom of their rates." 

City of Greater Bendigo mayor Peter Cox said he applauded the Prospectors and Miners Association members for their clean-up. 

Cr Cox said the council could provide a hard rubbish collection but that it would mean raising rates.

"It would cost more than $50 per household to have it picked up," he said.

"The more services, the higher the rates."

Cr Cox said it was better for residents to use recycling services such as the Eaglehawk Recycle Shop, where waste is dropped off for free, rather than council paying. 

"You can have big councils doing everything for you but I don’t necessarily think that’s the best way to go," he said.

Cr Cox said there were heavy fines for people who left waste in the bush. 

"I'd encourage people to take the number plate and report it to council so we can prosecute.

"Waste in our forests is a wider community responsibility and we all need to play our part."

Parks Victoria ranger David Major said littering in national parks was an ongoing issue. 

"I don't know whether there is a single answer but what we're looking for is for people to appreciate the value of the natural environment and look after it by not littering," Mr Major said.