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Mount Gambier Rail Trail

South Australia - Regional

4.3 based on 3 reviews
Location: Limestone Coast, 435 km south east of Adelaide
Length: 10.5 km
Surface: Asphalt
Start / End: Mt Gambier to Compton and Wandilo
Public Transport: Coach
Suitable for:
  • Cycling – Mountain BikesCycling – Mountain Bikes
  • Cycling – Touring and Hybrid BikesCycling – Touring and Hybrid Bikes
  • PramsPrams
  • Scooters and Inline SkatesScooters and Inline Skates
  • WalkingWalking
  • WheelchairsWheelchairs

  • Rail Trail
  • On Road
  • Potential RT
  • Other Trail
  • Former Railway

A lot of effort and clever touches have gone into the 11 km rail trail through Mt Gambier, a town that already had a lot going for it.

View Map
  • A high-quality shared-used path that passes through the regional centre of Mount Gambier
  • An additional 3 km trail branches off to run along the old Beachport Line
  • It’s an easy way to explore tourist attractions
  • The commercial centre of town is only 400 m from the trail
  • Flat with easy street crossings

Nearby Attractions

  • Many tourist attractions, including Umpherston Sinkhole, Cave Garden and Engelbrecht Cave
  • The railyards have been converted into a landscaped civic centre called Railway Lands
  • The station has been restored and is used for community activities.
  • The extinct volcanic region of Mount Gambier is less than 2 km south of the trail. The crater region contains Blue Lake, Valley Lake, a playground, walking trails and a caravan park.
  • Coonawarra Rail Trail

Last updated: 9 April 2025

The trail runs east-west through Mount Gambier, with its focal point being the former railyards and station, which have been transformed into parklands and play areas while retaining  railway memorabilia. The railway reserve is a wide linear park, so housing is some distance from the shared path. At most road crossings, shops, cafes and hotels are easily accessible.

After leaving the city, it splits into two at a junction, the southern section following the Adelaide Line for 3 km, while the other follows the Millicent branch line for 3 km. The Coonawarra Rail Trail has been built on another section of the Adelaide Line, but that is 50 km away at Penola.

Section Guides

Telford St to White Av (4.5 km)

  • The rail trail starts at the eastern end of Telford St, where there is a turning area and on-street parking.
  • Almost immediately as it heads west it passes the Mount Gambier Showgrounds, where there is camping.
  • At the Pick Av crossing, a shared path heads north past a bakery to join the Princes Hwy path.
  • At the Riddoch Hwy (Bay Rd) crossing, you can turn right and travel 300 m to Cave Garden
  • Between Riddoch Hwy and Wehl St are the Mount Gambier Railway Lands, a wide, landscaped public facility with artworks and restored railway buildings. A shopping mall with food court is to the north. There are picnic facilities and toilets in the park
  • You can detour about 1 km to Engelbrecht Cave via Bertha St, Commercial St and Victoria Tce.
  • After crossing Bertha St, the trail passes through the railyards with the remains of a turntable, sidings and buildings on its southern side. West of the turntable is the footprint of an old locomotive roundhouse.
  • South and west of the turntable and roundhouse is a large park with BMX and pump tracks.
  • Mount Gambier is a major town with a strong plantation forestry industry. It has all major facilities and a visitor centre on the Jubilee Hwy.

White Av to Wandilo Rd (3 km)

  • After crossing White Av and passing the old signal box, the trail curves to the north following the old Adelaide Line towards Penola and passing through an area of mainly light industry before stopping at Wandilo Rd in a semi-rural area that’s filling up with housing estates.
  • Exercise caution at road crossings, particularly the busy Princes Hwy.

Beachport Branch Line (3 km)

  • From the old signal box, the trail along the branch line goes straight ahead, passing through a light industrial area and some new suburban developments, then rural country before terminating at Cafpirco Rd near the site of the Compton siding. The line once continued to Millicent and Beachport

CONNECTING PATH

  • Umpherston Sinkhole Park (1.2 km): From the eastern end of the trail on Telford St, turn left on the shared path that runs next to the Jubilee Hwy Timber Mill. At the Princes Hwy, turn right on the roadside path and proceed east for about 400 m to the dramatic sinkhole. A kiosk, picnic facilities and toilets are located in the park.

Do you know of a bike hire or transportation service on this rail trail that should appear here? If so, let us know at admin@railtrails.org.au.

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3 reviews of “Mount Gambier Rail Trail”

There were a few families and dog walkers using the station area today. There’s a big new mural in Railway Lands now. The areas around the rail trail are gradually filling up with residential and light industrial projects. Hopefully, the property developers will be coerced into extending the trail towards Penola

Sealed and well marked. Great asset for the community and connects to many bike lanes. But it does go to nowhere. The station precinct appears underutilised but is a great space.

This trail has an excellent paved surface and the former Mount Gambier railway station sites has been well developed as a community asset.

However, the trail doesn't actually lead anywhere, instead it just ends at the end of suburban parts of Mount Gambier. Hopefully one day it can be extended north up to Penola or west to Millicent.

Background Information

Traditional owners

We acknowledge the Buandig people, the traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which the rail trail is built.

Development and future of the rail trail 

A 3.1 km section from Pick Av to Whites Av was opened early in 2017. Construction started on a further 2.3 km from White Av to Jubilee Hwy West late in 2017. More recently, a shared path has been built from the end of the rail trail in Telford St to the Jubilee Hwy shared path to Umpherston Sinkhole and Blue Lake Sports Park.

The rail trail has also been extended north from Jubilee Hwy West to Wandilo Rd, from where it is intended to join a shared path heading south to the University SA and TAFE campuses on Wireless Rd West. Another section of rail trail has been constructed west from White Av to Cafpirco Rd along the former Millicent Line.

Rail line history

The Mount Gambier Line was originally part of South Australian Railways’ narrow-gauge network, connecting with the broad-gauge Adelaide-Melbourne Line at Wolseley. Opened in stages from 1881, it reached Mount Gambier in 1887. Here, there was also a junction for a branch line to Millicent and Beachport.

The lines to Mount Gambier and Millicent was converted to broad gauge in the 1950s. Mount Gambier also had a broad-gauge connection with Heywood, Vic, which opened in 1917. Mount Gambier had two goods yards, a locomotive depot and roundhouse.

Passenger services to Adelaide ended in December, 1990, and the line officially closed in April, 1995. Some of it was used by the Limestone Coast Railway tourist service, but this closed in June, 2006. When the land was given to the community by the SA Government, the City of Mount Gambier repurposed the site into a public green space.

Mount Gambier Rail Trail will see the light

Posted: 16/04/21

The Mount Gambier Rail Trail in South Australia is unique with its 8km length traversing ...

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Mount Gambier’s rail trail is a blooming success

Posted: 15/03/21

Over the past decade the City of Mount Gambier in South Australia, with assistance from ...

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