The Great Dividing Trail Network (300km)

The Great Dividing Trail Network is a pathway for walkers, mountain bikers and trail runners to central Victoria’s hidden treasures from deep gorges and fern-lined rivers to the artefacts and cultural heritage of the greatest gold rush the world has ever seen.

The trail network passes along the southern most parts of Australia's Great Dividing Range. The main section, known as the Goldfields Track, runs from Bendigo to Buninyong, and is divided into the Wallaby Track, Dry Diggings Track and Leanganook Track. A separate leg, the Lerderderg Track, branches from Daylesford to Bacchus Marsh.

The trail was primarily intended for hiking, but has proven attractive to mountain bikers, and is being further developed for that purpose.

As the tracks pass through populated areas, they are suitable for day walks. In total, there are 280 kilometres of walking track. The tracks are overseen by the Great Dividing Trail Association, a non-profit, incorporated organisation.

The Great Dividing Trail Network, of which the Goldfields Track is a part, was originally planned, developed and maintained by volunteer bushwalking members of a non-profit incorporated association, the Great Dividing Trail Association (GDTA). A linked network of public walking and bike tracks starting on the Dividing Range in central Victoria, Australia, the Great Dividing Trail Network is currently over 300km in length.

The GDTA was established in 1992 by a small group of volunteers who sought to develop and promote walking tracks linking the gold rush cities and townships of central Victoria. The network’s central hub is Daylesford on top of the southern end of east coast Australia’s Great Dividing Range. The tracks, with a few exceptions, pass through forest and public land. All of the tracks feature mining artefacts dating back to the gold rush era in the mid-19th century.

The Great Dividing Trail Network (GDTN) consists of five individual tracks. For a map of the network click here.

The southernmost track is the Lerderderg Track, which starts in Daylesford at a new trailhead at the Bridport St Lookout above Lake Daylesford. It can be accessed at the halfway mark from Blackwood and the final trailhead is the Bacchus Marsh railway station. Posts marking the track are blue-topped. Track maintenance and promotion is the responsibility of the GDTA in association with the land managers.

1. Lerderderg Track: Lake Daylesford to Bacchus Marsh Station (87km)

Four other tracks form the 210km Goldfields Track, which stretches from Mt Buninyong through the gold rush era towns of Ballarat, Creswick, Daylesford and Castlemaine to Bendigo.

2. Eureka Track: Mount Buninyong to Creswick Station (43km)

3. Wallaby Track: Creswick Station to Lake Daylesford (52km)

4. Dry Diggings Track: Lake Daylesford to Castlemaine Station (58km)

5. Leanganook Track: Castlemaine Station to Bendigo Station (61km)

Overall marketing and promotion of the Goldfields Track is the responsibility of Goldfields Track Inc (GTI), a committee of representatives nominated by land management bodies. It includes members of the GDTA and community reps. The GDTA initiated formation of the GTI in 2010.