Comments on: Great Victorian Rail Trail

By: greg h.

greg h. — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 02:28:02 +0000

This trail has improved a lot in the four years since I last rode it. The regularly spaced professional quality distance markers and places of interest signs are fantastic making navigation a breeze and providing insight into local historic sites as well as fauna and flora. The art installations added a giggle stop for me.
Rode the whole trail on my fully loaded 20" folding bike no issues there as the surface is very good now with little to complain about.
The diverse scenery makes the hill climbs worthwhile. I saw an occasional lost sheep, echidna, rabbits and huge hares and lots of birds along the trail so was never really alone.
Towns close enough so you won't starve I think I may have gained weight as I found the bakeries and pies along the way irresistible!
Great trail!
The only thing I might change next time is go when the little railways are operatin.

By: Dee H.

Dee H. — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 02:18:27 +0000

With friends we stayed at Yea caravan park for two days on the trail.
Day 1 We arranged transport with a local provider to take us and bikes to Merton and we rode back to Yea. It was a lovely ride. the path was all gravel but well maintained.
Stopping at Yarck for probably the best pies we've ever eaten was a highlight plus beautiful Autumn weather.
Day 2
Our provider again collected us from the caravan park and dropped us at Tallarook. What a great ride! Absolutely beautiful. We realised we could have a coffee and cake at Trawool Estate – so all 8 of us enjoyed that and then further on boiled the billy and sat on a track side for our own lunches with again a pretty view. The track was in good condition, firm, much less gravel. Arrived back to Yea after a great ride.

By: Tim R.

Tim R. — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 03:05:41 +0000

Solo hiked Tallarook-Mansfield over 5 days and boy was it fun. Great weather over all the days.
The continual climb up to Mertons Gap from Yarck was a work out.
Averaged nearly 5ltrs of water per day and that included water for meals. Very limited places to refill along the trail. More drop dunnies than refill points.
Plenty of other trail users met along the way and most were fantastic in stopping and having a chat.
No issues with the trail

By: Nick B.

Nick B. — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 04:48:43 +0000

Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT) overnighter, Tallarook to Yarck and Return 130kms.
With good weather forecast and a couple of days free, I decided to test out how my Kona commuter bike would handle as a touring bike. It’s been a couple of years since I last cycled the GVRT which has improved, however it’s still a bit sketchy in parts. High country highlights were eating my fill of sweet trailside blackberries the birds and Wildlife, stopping at country towns like Molesworth, Yea and Yarck, where I camped overnight for free at the wonderful Recreation reserve, good shady camping with a toilet behind the pub. Bike and rider performed well.

By: Bruce K.

Bruce K. — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 04:56:23 +0000

In reply to Mariana P.. Hi. What sort of bike were you riding? Planning on riding this track end of February in two stages on my ebike. Interested that you did the entire track in one day, each way. Regards, Bruce

By: Robert I.

Robert I. — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 23:20:44 +0000

Just rode with 2000 cyclists on the Great Vic Bike Ride 2024. I have wide tyres and a hybrid bike so was well prepared for the trail from Mansfield to Alexandra. There were lots of punctures of the skinny tubeless variety, as told by the WARBY support. Its a great trail with credit to the Friends group and would be better with a small group and not rushing like we did.

By: Jenny M.

Jenny M. — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 03:24:15 +0000

The Great Victorian Rail Trail was actually the first trail that I ever noticed and it sparked my initial interest in all things Rail Trails. Was absolutely rapt to finally ride one of the sections of this trail yesterday and I wasn't disappointed. We only rode the Trawool to Tallarook section and back again, about 28km return. The track is in good condition, there were a couple of spots where the track was a little uneven due to water damage along the side of the track. All rough surface hazards are clearly signed and are only minimal and do not present obstacles to riders. We supported the General store in Tallarook for lunch and then rode back and popped in for coffee and cake at Trawool Estate. A really pleasant and reasonably easy ride, loved the art work along this section. At the moment there are some driveway works on three properties in Trawool and riders are required to dismount, leave the trail and ride on the road for about 300 metres, this will be just a temporary deviation. Again, there is alot of signage and witches hats placed to identify this temporary change. Look forward to completing other sections of the trail in the coming weeks.

By: Brian D.

Brian D. — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 12:31:11 +0000

Great trail. Well maintained. Day ride Covered 62km each way from Tallarook to Cathkin (where the split to Alexandria is). Fairly flat. Gentle climb to the tunnel.

Icy start. About 0c and fog for the first hour or so which made it for some great riding.

Would be awesome to do this track return over 3 days which I plan on shortly
Day 1 Tallarook->Bonnie Doon (stay 2 nights)
Day 2 Bonnie Doon – Mansfield return
Day 3 Bonnie Doon – Tallarook with maybe Alexandra loop

By: Mariana P.

Mariana P. — Sat, 09 Mar 2024 09:02:57 +0000

Absolutely loved this rail trail. Drove up from melbourne and parked outside the CFA in Tallarook. Then I rode from Tallarook to Mansfield on day 1. Stayed overnight at a motel in Mansfield and the next day I rode back to Tallarook (I also added on the additional stretch from Yea to Alexandra. The second day was a big day but I was glad to push myself. This made for around 270km of cycling over two days but with enough hydration and food it was possible.

One of the more enjoyable out and back rides I've done.

Bonnie Doon is spectacularly beautiful

I rode this over a weekend in late December.

By: Steve W.

Steve W. — Sat, 18 Nov 2023 22:32:57 +0000

Rode Yea to Alexandra to Merton Gap and back to Yea. The new signage is great, well done, this is such a well maintained trail, congratulations to all (Friends of GVRT & local councils).
One reminder for all intending to ride, make sure you have enough water. There is no water available between towns and it can get very warm on the trail, always leave the bigger towns with enough water.