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Bellarine Rail Trail - Trail Description
- Trail
Bellarine Rail Trail
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Type: Rail trail Location: Bellarine Peninsula, 75km from Melbourne Start/end: South Geelong to Queenscliff Status: Open Length open: 32.5km Surface: Fine gravel Terrain: Hilly Public transport: Train, Coach, Bus Photos: 7 Videos: 0 Comments : 5 News Items: 0 
Looking over Swan Bay at Queenscliff, with the railway just below (2009)
- Details
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Features
- A great day or weekend destination close to Melbourne and Geelong with scenery ranging from suburban to rolling farmland to the picturesque Swan Bay..
- The Bellarine Peninsula has fine wineries, beaches and landscapes, and a wealth of other recreation opportunities.
- From Drysdale to Queenscliff the trail is beside the Bellarine Peninsula Tourist Railway. The tourist railway is happy to take bicycles on their trains if you don't want to ride in one (or both!) directions of this section.
Description
Access Points
- Strong Street at Swanston Street near South Geelong railway station
- South Geelong - Breakwater Rd opposite the Geelong showgrounds, 1km from the railway station along Carr St
- Drysdale - At the railway station, which is the half way point where the tourist railway terminates.
- Queenscliff - opposite the station towards the carriage sidings
South Geelong to Leopold (8km)
From South Geelong the trail climbs gently to Leopold
- The trail surface is sealed From South Geelong to the Bellarine Highway crossing and Melaluka Rd Leopold to the Portarlington Rd crossing.
- Take in the sweeping views back to Geelong
Leopold to Drysdale (8km)
- There is a bit of a gentle climb from Leopold to Curlewis
- At Curlewis the trail goes through farmland and the view is of Corio Bay and the You Yangs
- This section is built beside the original formation and the old track is still visible in places
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West of Curlewis Rd crossing there may be some mud in wet weather
- West of Jetty Rd the suface is been partly eroded due to weather damage
- Drysdale station has a museum that is open when the train to Queenscliff is running
Drysdale to Queenscliff (16.5km)
From Drysdale to Queenscliff the trail runs next to the tourist railway and uses some local streets at the Queenscliff end
- The trail reaches the highest point on the line just past Drysdale, and it is downhill all the way to Queenscliff
- You have to depart the rail reserve briefly at Lakers Siding
- From Mellows road the trail is on-road (Murray Rd) for 1km before joining the fine gravel path beside the Bellarine Highway
- At King St the trail returns to the railway reserve to Queenscliff.
- You will cross the railway line about 600m from Queenscliff Station to run beside Swan Bay.
For more information on this trail see the book Rail Trails of Victoria and South Australia.
Background Information
The line was opened from Geelong to Queenscliff in 1879 to carry soldiers and materials to assist in the defence of Port Phillip Bay from possible attack by the Russians. It also carried holiday makers to the popular seaside resort of Queenscliff. The line was closed in 1976, but the section from Drysdale to Queenscliff was reopened as a tourist railway in 1981. It officially became a rail trail in 2000.
Links
The first half of the rail trail to Drysdale is managed by the City of Greater Geelong, and the second half by the Bellarine Railway. Please report any issues with the rail trail to these organisations.
The Friends of the Bellarine Peninsula Rail Trail do a great job of improving the ammenity of the entire rail trail.
Support Services and Attractions
The Bellarine Railway is happy to take bicycles on their trains if you don't want to ride in one (or both!) directions of this section They even have a bicycle hire facility at Drysdale station. Refer to their website.
November 2012
- Photos
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Bellarine Rail Trail - Photos
Looking over Swan Bay at Queensclif ...
Bushland in urban Leopold. (2009)
Christies Rd Leopold, which also ha ...
Between Leopold and Drysdale (2007)
The Bellarine Railway steam train a ...
Railway with rail trail in harmony ...
Approaching Queenscliff with Swan B ... - Comments
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Comments
5 commentsAugust 06, 2012 by spokes
Shelton, The section between Geelong and Drysdale will be ok for a cargo bike, and if it has not been raining for a few days the section between Drysdale and Point Lonsdale will passable but in the section between Swan Bay road and Banks road you may have to walk it a bit through sections of soft gravel. Then from Point Lonsdale to Queenscliff is ok except turn left onto Queensclif-/Portarlington road for about 500m, there is a new verge to ride on, turn right into Yarram road( becomes the trail) because the short sectionof trail that joins Queenscliff-Portarlington to Yarram road is flooded. Hopes this helps. Spokes. P.S. saw a cargo bike on the trail on Sunday 5th August, maybe that was already you. If it was, windy ah.
July 26, 2012 by Shelton
Can anybody give me an update on the state of this railtrail. I'm really wanting to try a cargo-bike holiday with my two little people.... but cargo bike portage is not really a winning proposition.
July 08, 2012 by spokes
Well all the re-surfacing on the trail between Portarlington Rd and Drysdale has been undone by the rain, but mainly because no drainage! Improper contouring and grass verges higher than the track have allowed the water to flow straight down the track like a river. Have a video to prove. Needs a lot of work to get it back to a standard to make it user friendly. So give it a big miss if you are thinking of riding it. Between Curlewis and Geelong is still OK.
February 15, 2012 by spokes
Being a frequent user of this rail trail I am delighted that the track is getting some much needed attention. Plus I have to totally agree with dogbait ( been bitten by a dog or two have we) that a tunnel under Geelong Rd, Drysdale has to go into the urgent tray before someone gets hit and killed.
February 08, 2012 by dogbait
February 2012. After much complaint, the Council is now in the process of re-surfacing 11k's of the trail between Portarlington Rd and Drysdale. They are removing all the loose large bluestones and replacing it with a hard, packed base topped with fine bluestones. A great improvement! This, and the new shelter at Mannerim and the shelter and toilet at Suma Park along with the newly installed kilometre markers and the Bellarine Rail Trail is finally getting up to First Class standard. Now we just need to convince VicRoads of the urgency of a tunnel crossing at the horrendously dangerous and difficult crossing at Geelong Rd, Drysdale.
