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“Open it and they will come”. Or is it “open it, then we’ll make it good?” These 2 statements were read out for the official opening of Pioneer Valley Rail Trail near Mackay in Queensland on Saturday 26 July.
Volunteer Pioneer Valley Rail Trail Group Inc. president Mike Browne said the committee is thrilled to open the trail after 5 years of hard labour and many thousands of hours donated by volunteers.
“Stage one is 40 km and made up of 31 km of very quiet, picturesque, rural roads and 9 km of disused rail track network,” he said.

The launch was attended by state members of parliament, the mayor of Mackay Regional Council and councillors, and the lessor, Mackay Sugar Limited, whose CEO cut the ribbon.
Other guests included the rail trail’s major sponsors and many donors of plant, equipment and hard goods attended together with walkers, runners, horse and bike riders.
According to Mike Browne, Stage 2 is a further 5 km made up of about half disused rail corridor with the balance a live rail network that is going to be a challenge to open safely.
“The committee is also investigating the replacement of one missing bridge over Barkers creek and two old standing timber bridges, with deviation the name of the game until investigations and funding give us a solution.”
For more information see their Facebook page here.


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Stay up to date with the latest news about Rail Trails with our free email news.
Register for news updatesIf 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...
Hilltops Council is inviting the community to have their say on the Boorowa Galong Rail Trail Concept. The concept explo...
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In December, Logan City Council (bordering Brisbane) decided to proceed with a staged development of the 11.5km section ...
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3 comments on “Stage One of Pioneer Valley Rail Trail Opens”
Please include details of where the new trail is from and to.
Doesn't come up in the trail search, and useless including an article of a new track opening with no pertinent information.
Hi Ian
We have clarified that it is near Mackay in the paragraph. We do note that there always was a direct link in the first paragraph to the trail description and if you type "Pioneer Valley" into our search bar the trail description is the first option with full details of this new rail trail.
Please include details of where the new trail id from and to.
Doesn't come up in the trail search, and useless including an article of a new track opening with no pertinent information.