O'Keefe Rail Trail - Trail Description

Bridge over the Axe Creek on the OKeefe Rail Trail. Railtrails Australia Archives

Location: East of Bendigo, 150km from Melbourne

Start/end: Bendigo (Lake Weeroona) to Axedale (Mcivor Hwy)

Region: Northern Victoria, Victoria

Length open: 19km

Surface: Gravel/dirt

Description

The trail traverses box-ironbark and Yellow Gum woodland, and there are plenty of wildflowers including orchids in bloom in spring. Be prepared for numerous spring loaded gates.

The railway line was a cross-country branch line connecting Bendigo and Heathcote Jct, on the Melbourne-Sydney railway line. It is hoped that the rail trail may one day do the same with a total length of 110 kilometres.

In mid 2006 the Bendigo Council started making preliminary investigations into extending the the trail a further 26km south to Heathcote. This would involve a one or two kilometre diversion around Lake Eppalock, whose construction occurred at the time the railway was closed in 1958. Funding to upgrade the existing trail and bridges and to start this extension has been approved in June 2010. See news item link below.

In 2009 The Friends of the Bendigo - Kilmore Rail Trail was formed by locals to lobby for the extension of the rail trail and advise the councils. They would like to see it extended south right through to Kilmore and the Melbourne Sydney railway line. Refer to the links below for more information about the group.

News Items

• June 2010 - Funding for extension to Heathcote
• July 2009 - Community Meeting for Bendigo to Kilmore Proposal

For more information on this trail see the book Rail Trails of Victoria and South Australia.

Trail Map

See Rail Trails of Victoria and South Australia for a much more detailed map. The maps in the book include all trail access points, facilities along the trail and gradient profiles (example).

Web Links

• Friends of the Bendigo - Kilmore Rail Trail

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Related Information

• Discuss this trail in our Victoria Rail Trails Forum
• More trails in this region
• Find other trails with our Rail Trail Finder

Rail Trails of Victoria and South Australia This trail is included in our guide book Rail trails of Victorian and South Australia. The book features 25 rail trails. It includes plenty of photos, detailed descriptions and full colour maps. It is available from book shops and bike shops or order direct.

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