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Register for news updatesVicJam 2022 rides O’Keefe Rail Trail
Bendigo’s O’Keefe Rail Trail was the focus of VicJam 2022, an 11-day Scouts Victoria jamboree based at Elmore Events Centre 50 km northeast of Bendigo, from 28 December 2021.
While the Centre became a temporary ‘town’ for the $5.5 million event attended by more than 7000 children and adults, the Bendigo suburb of Spring Gully hosted an important activity for 100 scout children aged 11 to 14 and 40 adult leaders/helpers.
The event involved 200 specially branded new bikes that arrived late on 29 December, and that then had to be unboxed, assembled and tested before 2 January.
Riding began along Bendigo’s urban off-road trails and then the O’Keefe Rail Trail, with the mid-ride destination of Peppercorn Park at Longlea, 15 km from Bendigo. Portable toilets and drinking water had to be provided at Longlea, which does not have permanent facilities for trail users. Scouts rode in groups of four to six, providing opportunities for the development of leadership skills, and returned to Spring Gully along the same trails.
VicJam volunteer road marshals helped the scout riders with a number of road crossings, including the challenging Napier Street crossing for trail users at White Hills in Bendigo.
Scouts Victoria executive manager Jon McGregor described VicJam 2022 as the equivalent of 200 school camps all happening on the same site at the same time, with the challenge of installing infrastructure such as recycling, a medical centre and a radio station, and co-ordinating nightly concerts and many other activities.
And to say thank you to the Friends of the Bendigo-Kilmore Rail Trail for their help, Victorian Scout Cycling co-ordinator Luke Moore has offered Scouts Victoria’s support for a rail trail related project!
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If you live in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, regional Victoria and NSW, Adelaide and Tasmania and are available to count bik...
Long-standing rail trail supporter Ms Rosamund Lesley Heit has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in...
Rail Trails Australia had 289,000 visits to its website in 2025, many by people looking for information on specific rail...
Byron Shire in northern NSW is working on getting approvals and funding for the transition of the 132km rail corridor th...
A 49km rail trail west from New Norfolk to mountain bike park centre Maydena is an exciting proposition from Derwent Val...
Pioneer Valley Rail Trail volunteers Mike and Margie Browne have won an Excellence in Community Project Achievement awar...
Update: as of 25 January 2026, Cycle Dindi 26 has been postponed due to damage to the Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT)....
Construction has begun on the next 1.5km stretch of the Yarra Valley Trail in Victoria, which will extend to the Birraru...
We know that rail trails are not exclusively enjoyed by cyclists: horse-riders, runners, walkers and mobility aid users ...
Queensland’s Somerset Regional Council and City of Moreton Bay have confirmed they have undertaken a Multi Criteri...
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