The Rail Trail Project

The proposed 55km Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail is a $35m, multi-year project. It has been instigated and driven by the Committee, members and supporters of the Castlemaine Maryborough Rail Trail Inc in association with the Mount Alexander Shire Council, Central Goldfields Shire Council, State Government of Victoria and the Australian Federal Government. The Project has been planned to proceed in three well designed Stages and currently is in Stage Two of its development. The Victorian Government has recently announced that CMRT has been sucessful in its grant application for the funding for Stage Two.

The Trail Experience

One of the wonderful things about our trail is that it’ll be equally enjoyable no matter which end you start from!

Start at Maryborough and you can alight from one of Australia’s grandest old railway stations. Start at Castlemaine station and you will be right where the story of the goldfields began.

A powerful and unique feature of the trail is that it has a train line to Melbourne at both ends. Easy for local commuters; a magnet for eco-tourists.

If you start in Castlemaine, you can easily find good food and coffee and any last-minute necessities, then you’ll be off along the Campbells Creek Trail to Winters Flat where the disused part of the old train line begins and the Goldfields Steam Train blows it’s whistle and turns off towards Maldon.

Then the creek, the road, and the rail trail rolls down the valley past farms and houses to Guildford. You’ll be able to look down on the cars passing by as you are safe on the trail and can enjoy the view.

At Guildford, the line crosses the highway on a high bridge and leaves the road for a while, past the place where Campbells Creek joins the Loddon River, over another bridge, and now you’ll follow the Loddon River through bush and farmland, all the way to the old Newstead Station which is now an arts hub.

Soon after Newstead, you will ride across the spectacular Joyce’s Creek bridge, the longest of the trail, at the south end of Lake Cairn Curran Reservoir. Then it’s a short climb up onto the volcanic Moolort Plains, with big skies, and world-recognised wetlands.

The rollicking downhill run past the Moolort Silos and into Carisbrook is a blast before heading into Maryborough and the truly magnificent Maryborough Station where you can enjoy a well-deserved milkshake (or other age-appropriate refreshing treats).

We’ve always envisaged our trail as something more than a sealed path linking two points. Our region is studded with natural and other attractions. That’s why we developed our Guide to the Trail to highlight some of our region’s many attractions, and help better tell our stories of people and place.

P.S. Take a peek at some of views you’ll get along the trail in the Views Along The Trail gallery. Click on the Gallery button below (photographs by Mick Evans and Ken Stewart)..