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Bicentennial National Trail Trail Hiking Australia

  • Length: 5330km

  • Duration: 1 Year

  • Grade: 3-5

  • Style: One Way

  • Start: Healesville, Victoria

  • End: Cooktown, Queensland

  • Location: East Coast Australia

  • Closest Town: Healesville

  • Distance from CBD: 64km

  • State: VIC, NSW, QLD

  • Latitude: -37.656

  • Longitude: 145.514

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2WD Access

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Bitumen Road

Gravel Road

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Small Car Park

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Accessible Toilet

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Overnight Campsites
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East Coast Australia...

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Aboriginal Art

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Horse Riding

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The Bicentennial National Trail is a 5330km, multi-grade one way trail located along the eastern coast of Australia. Attempting to walk the full length would take approximately one year to complete.

Hike Summary

The Bicentennial National Trail (BNT), originally known as the National Horse Trail, is one of the longest multi-use, non-motorised, self-reliant trails in the world, stretching 5,330 kilometres from Cooktown, Queensland, through New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to Healesville, 60 km north-east of Melbourne, Victoria. This trail runs the length of the rugged Great Dividing Range through national parks, private property and alongside wilderness areas. The BNT follows old coach roads, stock routes, brumby tracks, rivers and fire trails. It was originally intended for horses, but is these days promoted also for cycling and walking, though it is not yet entirely suited to these two activities.

History

The trail was initiated and planned by the Australian Trail Horse Riders Association. They spent many years planning and negotiating a route. Horses are banned from all Wilderness Areas and many national park areas so they had to avoid these. For a long time, creation of the trail looked doubtful. When it was accepted as a bicentennial project in 1985, finance and official approval followed and by 1988 the trail was a reality. The trail has a large following amongst the horse riding community and has been very beneficial to them.

Access

A huge number of access points exist. Indeed, much of the trail follows public roads. Access by public transport exists where the trail crosses major highways - generally these are spaced at about one month walking intervals. Walkers usually chose to pre-place food at one to two week intervals and private transport must be used to do this.

Maps and Track Notes

The Trail links eighteen of Australia's national parks and more than 50 state forests, providing access to some of the wildest, most remote country in the world. The Trail is suitable for self-reliant horse riders, walkers and mountain bike riders. Parts of the Trail, such as some of the Jenolan Caves to Kosciuszko section, are suitable for horse-drawn vehicles. The Trail is not open to motorised vehicles or trail bikes, and pets are not permitted. The Trail is divided into 12 sections of 400 to 500 kilometres, each with a corresponding guide book.

A series of 12 guidebooks have been published for the trail. These use sketch maps to show the trails location - these maps are good for planning. It is also advised to obtain detailed contour maps as the sketch maps are inadequate for navigation. The guides contain very brief notes and are of limited help with planning a walk as most of the general advice is about horses - selecting them, feeding them, holding them etc.

Permits

Not needed. Local restrictions on camping and camp fires apply in some areas and in some seasons.

About the region

The track starts at Healesville on the outskirts of Melbourne in Victoria. It follows the mountain ranges along the eastern side of Australia through New South Wales to end at Cooktown in northern Queensland. The total length is 5330 km and would take most of 1 year to walk.

Hikes Nearby

Previous
Brinktop Reserve & Richmond Park Track (3.0km)

246 thoughts on “Bicentennial National Trail (5330km)”

    6. Hi I don it both ways with 6 Horses it took two and a half years 1999 to 2002

    1. Done some research on this one! It actually passes right by a mates farm near Glen Innes. Plenty of mindless miles but some amazing terrrain.

    3. Some of the reports from people riding it are pretty epic. Listened to a girl one night who’d done it on horseback

    2. What an amazing experience it would be.. ..just imagine being removed from society for a year then trying to come back into it.. .crazy stuff hey

    2. Shaun Kaesler it’s more of a horse trail than a hiking trail, I don’t think many if anyone has hiked the length, only a handful have done it on horseback. up until recently it was the longest trail in the world.

    4. Hunter Dodds you are correct, not many people have hiked it…. I think about 4-6? people have hiked it, about 12? mtbs and the rest were on horseback. About 50? people in total have completed the whole trail (including 3 kids). Lots more people have done sections. Check out the BNT website for more info. It’s a wonderful community and an amazing adventure ❤️

    1. Olzy, sure have ? not many though…. Only 12? mtbs I think.
      Lots more people have done mtb sections. Sections vary greatly in terrain and remoteness, so there is something for everyone. It’s best to contact the BNT to find out more, they have a website.

  112. Permits are needed. To buy the guidebooks you need to be a member and often you have to ring a property owner to gain access. Also most of the guidebooks don’t have sketch maps but topographic maps with detailed instructions

    1. But as Tanya Bosch says, it’s best to gain membership with the BNT so you have all the correct inside information on this tough trek. The guidebooks are in various qualities of publication, some sketched (30 years old), some quite detailed (published this year). Just as the maps go to print/published they will be ‘out of date’ to some degree, which is why the support of the organization through membership is so important. They are a very supportive not for profit organisation.

    1. Michele Murray we stayed in Healesville a couple of months ago right next to the start of the trail. 5330 is a big number ??

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