Comments on: Rokeby to Neerim Railside Trail

By: Sue D.

Sue D. — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 09:02:58 +0000

Equipment: GIANT Hybrid 700*32 tyres.
Rider: 69 yo woman

We started at Rokeby, enjoying the stellar trees and environs. The first hill down was very steep for someone who doesn't know what to expect below. Then the rail trail is, as everyone says, absolutely lovely but instead of continuing under the Crossover Trestle Bridge, it takes a sharp left up a steep bit. I had to walk it up to the picnic table.
After I caught my breath, we continued on to share a road with cars for a time.
Then, there were areas where you might get to go downhill for a breather, but nope. You can't get speed up down hill because there were curb-like culverts particularly outside a giant trucking drive. He was actually leaving as we stopped for him. at that point, I called ahead to my husband and said I was turning back. There was poor telephone connectivity and he'd actually texted me 15 minutes previous saying, "TURN BACK. MORE RIDICULOUS STEEP BITS" – and he's a very fit ride rider. Boolarra is better.

By: Wolter K.

Wolter K. — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 09:48:13 +0000

RT69/70 What a difference $4 million makes. Fancy trail hubs at Rokeby and Crossover, lots of new signage, duplicating the old stuff in some cases, much improved surface and even chip seal for the on-road sections along Bridge and Beck roads. The residents must be happy

By: Sean C.

Sean C. — Thu, 24 Apr 2025 23:49:57 +0000

I rode this lovely rail trail on a beautiful autumn day and was impressed with all the effort that had gone into its maintenance and signage. The steady incline amongst the tall gums and tree ferns took me to the Crossover Bridge and I then followed the Rokeby to Neerim Trail (ie not an official rail trail) all the way to the Neerim Cemetary which was a little bit further on from the end of the trail. At three places along the way were construction crews digging and replacing sections of the trail surface so it bodes well for future riders. The Rokeby to Neerim Trail basically follows the road and supplies lovely vistas over the surrounding countryside and distant hills, and Neerim South provides facilities and refreshments along the way.
From the Crossover Bridge I thoroughly enjoyed the gentle 5km coast back down the very long and straight rail trail to my start point. All up, 34km with 500m elevation. Chapeau to all the dedicated people who maintain these trails!

By: Darren M.

Darren M. — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 03:14:24 +0000

My! what a beautiful area and not one we had visited before. The sky was azure blue and the temperature north of 25deg when we commenced our walk about 10 am from Rokeby Recreational Park heading along the Rokeby Crossover Rail Trail. We were thirteen strong and ready to tackle the 8km return trip.
Surprised and somewhat impressed to see at the start of the path that it was freshly laid concrete wide enough for vehicular use, and wondered if it was more than just pedestrians and bikes that used the trail, this quickly changed however, once around the bend to a conventional rail trail surface providing a more natural vista rather than a man made one.
The way was dappled in shade from the many magnificently tall ramrod straight trees (mostly gum varieties, 100+ feet) on each side of the track, along with the occasional cool breeze which made for pleasant walking despite the increasing heat and much to our relief!
The trail essentially navigates through the Crossover Regional Park with views of the Tarago Reservoir, Bunyip State Park and Mt Baw Baw, finishing with towering views of the Crossover Trestle Bridge a remanent of the early 19th Century gold mining days. The rail service in the area after the gold rush at Pilgrim Creek in 1892 until the mid-1950’s providing passenger and freight services. Thanks Georgie for writing this review

By: Ewen H.

Ewen H. — Sat, 11 Nov 2023 01:25:53 +0000

It's a trail of two halves, the southern half was a welcome relief after riding through rolling farmland from Drouin and even in November, it was wet in places. Turning left to the river at the T-Intersection is an absolute must and probably the highlight of the ride with the picnic table on the banks of the river. Unfortunately that t-intersection is the end of the railway formation with missing bridges and VicRoads/CRB plonking a new embankment on top of the former railway. Such a short visit to a grand engineering feat of the entire railway.

The second half is a climb all the way to the heritage listed Crossover trestle bridge which is in dire need of maintenance. This trestle is a road bridge and honestly this is not the show stopper so try the Noojee trestle if you want to see a decent bridge. Off this trail are MTB tracks so access is easy to get to the head of the track. On the other side of the bridge, you can spot the former Crossover station platform from the roadside.

If you want a downhill ride for the kids with a car shuffle or want to combine with some very old school MTB then this is for you otherwise there are many better trails.

By: Leigh C.

Leigh C. — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 23:45:43 +0000

This is my local trail and I've watched it deteriorate over the past six years. In the winter of 2022 one 30-metre section around the 2km mark became impassable and a short hike-a-bike in the bush was necessary. The last kilometre up to the Crossover trestle bridge was more like a creek after any rain and there was plenty of it. It's dried out over summer and is pretty good now. The good news is that Baw Baw Shire have promised to improve the trail, especially the extended trail (not on the original railway formation) from Crossover to Neerim. A lot of scrub clearing was done early in 2023, improving the aesthetics along the 4kms of trail from Rokeby to Crossover. Here's hoping it's a harbinger of better things to come.

By: KAR

KAR — Sat, 23 Mar 2019 21:53:18 +0000

This was the first of three short trails my husband and I undertook over 3 days (Moe-Yallourn and Grand Ridge the other 2) – see comments on their respective pages). Signage to find the start at Rokeby was good. Trail surface is quite rough (making the going on my skinny tyred road bike a bit challenging at times – my husband’s hybrid was more suitable). The section from Crossover to Neerim Sth (while not technically a rail trail so therefore a combination of gravel road, gravel packed path adjacent to main road and dirt bush track) was quite well signposted – we missed one and spent a few hundred metres on the main road before refinding the path running parallel to the road. We realised when we turned at Neerim Sth for the return leg just how much climbing we had done on the outward leg – the return trip was all downhill.

By: cascho

cascho — Fri, 26 Dec 2014 09:45:34 +0000

I rode this trail today (26th December 2014) – the trail has been extended so you can ride all the way to Neerim – the part from Rokeby to Crossover is for mountain bikes – a hybrid should be okay, but will struggle when wet. The best parts are the views as you ride around Neerim. The trestle bridge at Crossover is no different from many of the other trestle bridges you can see on other rail trails around Victoria.

By: RCFG

RCFG — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:49:35 +0000

The signage issue has been addressed with new markers along the track and a new directional sign at Crossover end.

By: gardener80

gardener80 — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:27:07 +0000

Gradual uphill climb from Rokeby to Crossover. Toilet, BBQ and playground facilities at Rokeby. Well maintained track, although trail bike riders seem to think they can use it too. The Crossover end ended abruptly with no signage on where to go next. Pleasent ride all the same.