About The Gippsland Plains Rail Trail

The Gippsland Plains Rail Trail extends 65km from Stratford to Traralgon in Central Gippsland, Victoria.

The trail passes through high quality dairy country, and offers sweeping views of the Great Dividing Range to the north and is unique as visitors can connect to and travel by train to both the start and end of the trail.  

The trail is a favorite for weekend short breaks with 7 townships along its 65km route, offering all accommodation, meals and all visitor services and amenities.

Works during 2008 have developed an excellent section of trail between Stratford and Maffra where trail users can arrive by train (3 V-Line services daily to Stratford - ( www.vline.com.au ) and then cycle, ride or walk the 10km to Maffra.  Stratford has many unique shops including a turkish rug shop, model railway shop, country style craft shop, lolly shop, as well as antique shops, a hotel and bakery.

The trail head is located at Apex Park at Stratford adjacent to the Avon River bridge at the entrance to the town. Services at the trail head include toilets, water, bbq, parking, childrens playground and adjacent swimming pool and caravan park. 

The 10km trail to Maffra is a smooth surface, suitable for all bikes and is flat.  The journey to Maffra has only one road crossing with the Maffra Trailhead located at the "Gippsland Vehicle Collection" adjacent to the main street.  

Maffra's visitor attractions include the Gippsland Vehicle Collection, Macalister Park which has an extensive network of cycling and walking trails, Macalister Wetlands with viewing platforms and boardwalks, shady tree lined main street with many shops, including bakery, sports store, supermarket and hotels.  Gippslands largest backpacker hostel (Cambrai) is located in the main street (Johnson St) and offers quality budget accommodation for groups. The Maffra Visitor Information Centre hosts the Pino Deriu mineral collection including the unique Pino's Cave where minerals glow in the dark.

Leaving Maffra, the trail requires a short (2.0km) road section before linking to Tinamba (6km) via good trail with a mainly earth surface with gravel sections.  This part of the trail has a number of creek crossings where waterbirds can often be seen in billabongs nearby. Tinamba has a general store and hotel both offering meals and refreshments.  Accommodation in the hotels "Bed & Breakfast" is available along with hearty counter meals.

From Tinamba, the trail extends on a good surface of gravel to Heyfield, a distance of 11km.  Heyfield offers the visitor all the services of a small country town, including bakery, chemist, supermarket, take-away shops, banking (autoteller) with the trail head located at the Heyfield Wetlands Centre in MacFarlane St.    Parking, toilets and tourist information is available on site.

From Heyfield, the trail recommences approx 1km from the Wetlands Centre trailhead and continues to the Dawson Flora reserve near Cowwarr, however is not fully developed at this time (2008).  This section of trail is however quite rideable for mountain bikes and some hybrids, but the surface is gravel with occasional larger stones.  From Dawson, a road section along country backroads connects to Cowwarr (5k) where accommodation can be found at the Cricketers Arms Hotel.  A general store services visitors with all supplies and the unique Cowwarr Art Space located adjacent to the trail is well worth a look and does great coffee. 

The 17 km section from Cowwarr to the Glengarry via Toongabbie has not been fully developed but has had the rocky ballast removed . This section has two creek crossings that can be walked through. The trail reserve has significant remnant stands of native trees, shrubs and grasses en route with good visitor facilities in historic Toongabbie.

A road section from Glengarry to Traralgon via the C105 is necessary to complete the journey. (11km)

You can continue your journey or return home by train from the Traralgon Railway Station (www.vline.com.au)

Code of conduct The rail trail can only be used by walkers, cyclists, equestrians and wheelchairs - motor bikes and vehicles are not permitted. Dogs on leads allowed. No camping, no fires. Please keep left. Everyone: Stay on the trail, take your rubbish home, do not disturb stock and wildlife, keep dogs on leads. Cyclists: Approach horses with care, alert others to your approach, overtake on the right at reduced speed. Equestrians: Slow down approaching other users, dismount and lead horses over bridges. In some sections an equestrian trail is separate from the gravel pathway and is suitable only for horses. Toilets: The rail trail is a great community asset - let's keep it clean and respect the other users and the farms and towns alongside of it - take your rubbish home and please don't use the trail or the bush as a toilet. Presently, there are toilets in the towns at Stratford, Maffra, Tinamba, Heyfield, Cowwarr, Toongabbie, Glengarry and Traralgon. Signage: To enhance the enjoyment and safety of trail users, comprehensive signage is being progessively installed along the trail.

Origin of the Gippsland Plains Rail Trail In response to community requests, state government had the abandoned railway lands converted to Crown Land set aside for public ownership - the land is now administered by the Department of Sustainability and Environment.  A Commitee of Management made up of community volunteers has responsiblity for development, protection, maintenance and improvement of the lands and manage the trail construction and facilities. The Commitee of Management is responsible for maintenance, preservation and enhancement of the trail and natural vegetation with valuable assistance from volunteers, clubs and other groups.  Funding to build the trail came from a number of Government sources.

The Gippsland Plains Rail Trail Committee of Management hope to have all of the potential 65km trail from Stratford to Traralgon open with a good riding surface in the next few years. For further information about the trail's development contact the Chairperson, Helen Hoppner on 03 5148 9233 or contact Tourism Wellington for tourism, accommodation and general information about visiting and enjoying the Gippsland Plains Rail Trail.

Phone:   1800 677 520

Email:   admin@tourismwellington.com.au