The Goldfields Track – Dry Diggings Track

Daylesford - Castlemaine

Length: 61 kilometres
Walk: 3 days (4 separate day walks)
Track: Moderate
Grade: Easy/medium
Start: Lake Daylesford
Finish: Corner Forest and Wheeler streets, Castlemaine
Nearby: Castlemaine, Daylesford, Hepburn Springs
Permits/bookings: None required
Best time: Spring or autumn.

Dry Diggings Track is part of the Goldfields Track, a superb 210 kilometre walking and cycling trail that connects the towns of Ballarat and Bendigo via scenic villages such as Castlemaine, Hepburn, Daylesford and Creswick.

The walk takes you through a diverse series of historic mining landscapes where gold was first discovered in the 1850s, and the noted spa areas of Vaughan, Glenluce, Hepburn and Daylesford.

Stroll through isolated and ruggedly beautiful bushland including stands of ironbark, box and stringybark to the higher altitude candlebark and messmate forests closer to Daylesford.  In late winter, golden wattles blooms and during spring, the area is ablaze with wildflowers. The walk is great for spotting wildlife including grey kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and birds of many varieties.  

The track also takes you through a cultural landscape. Explore ruins and artefacts from the gold rush days and Australia’s first National Heritage Park, the Castlemaine Diggings National Park. There are many opportunities to stop and quench your thirst at naturally occurring mineral springs as many flow freely from the ground, others can be accessed via hand pumps.

The Goldfields Track is part of the Great Dividing Trail, 300km of trails that provide a pathway to the hidden treasures of Central Victoria.  The other legs of the Goldfields Track are the Leanganook Track linking Castlemaine and Bendigo and the Wallaby Track from Mt Buninyong to Daylesford.
 
For more information and maps visit www.gdt.org.au.

Note
If planning to mountain bike on the Track please refer to gdt.org.au as some sections, for safety reasons, are currently inaccessible for mountainbiking.