Mary to the Bay Rail Trail - Trail Description

Features

• The open section is a high quality rail trail connecting the main centres of the major regional seaside town of Hervey Bay
• Provides access to the beaches and the 868m long pier at Urangan
• Many road crossings but all have treatment appropriate to their use.

Options

The foreshore trail along the coast from the Urangan Pier makes a very scenic loop trail back to Pialba.  Along this stretch there are an increasing number of cafes and resturants opening to keep users fueled up.

Description

Access Points

• Urraween - Parking on side of road (wide verges)
• Pialba - Parking available at the Hervey Bay Community Centre with walk/cycle path connections to the rail trail.
• Urangan - At the Pier

Urraween to Pialba to Urangan (7.5km)

• Wide sealed trail surface connects the main centres of the coastal city of Hervey Bay.
• There are short on-road sections at Pialba and Urangan (near the pier.)

Background Information

The former railway branched off the North Coast main line at Colton, just above Maryborough. It reached Pialba in 1896 and was extended to Urangan in 1913. The line carried out a lot of pineapples from local farms and goods from the Urangan Pier and brought in a lot of picnic trains from Maryborough The last section of the line closed in 1993. The rails are still in place from Colton to Takura.

The trail is managed by the Fraser Coast Regional Council, who are considering extending the trail all the way to the Urangan Pier in the near future, which will link it up with the foreshore shared path along the Bay water front.

The Council, supported by local cycling groups such as the Fraser Coast BUG, have developed a ;plan for the whole of the former line to be converted to a rail trail and a connection made from Colton to Maryborough to provide a safe link between the two cities.

Links

The raill trail is managed by the Fraser Coast Regional Council http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au
Contact Denise Cox, Principal Officer Recreation Services, 1300 76 49 29 for any issues concerning the rail trail.

Fraser Coast Bicycle Users Group website.

February 2012