Surface Gravel Length 134,000 m | Trail difficulty Low Water Available in towns Phone +61 419 333 659 | |
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Hills Gentle (except Alexandra branch) Address Merton VIC 3715, Australia | ||
Great victorian rail trail full trail express
The Great Victorian Rail Trail (formerly Goulburn River High Country Rail Trail) is the longest rail trail in Australia, following the route of the former railway line from Tallarook, the Mansfield Railway and Alexandra Railway in north central Victoria, Australia, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The trail surface is partially granitic sand and partly chert (a kind of gravel),
Contents
Officially opened in June 2012, it stretches for 134 km (83 mi) from Tallarook near Seymour, through Trawool, Yea and Bonnie Doon to Mansfield, with an offshoot to Alexandra from Cathkin. Its highlights include the 200-metre (220 yd) Cheviot Tunnel near Yea, views of the Goulburn River, the Heritage Listed Trawool Valley and a former rail bridge over Lake Eildon near Bonnie Doon.
The towns passed through by the main rail trail are: Tallarook, Trawool, Kerrisdale, Homewood, Yea, Molesworth, Yarck, Kanumbra, Merton, Bonnie Doon, Maindample, Mansfield. The trail forks near Molesworth, leading to Alexandra.
Great victorian rail trail
History
On 29 April 2009, the Federal Government announced that it would contribute A$13.2 million from its community infrastructure program out of the estimated total cost of A$14.2 million needed for the completion of the trail as an economic stimulus and as part of the recovery effort in the wake of the 2009 Victorian bushfires. The money was spent to repair and build bridges, road crossings, car parking, rest stops and amenities.