Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail

Length: 53 kilometres
Cycle: 5 horrs
Track: rough
Grade: flat
Start: Ballarat
Finish: Skipton
Nearby: Ballarat

Once an important transport link between the historic gold mining towns of Ballarat and Skipton, the Ballarat Skipton Rail Trail now offers visitors a wonderful ride through Goldfields country. The surrounding landscape is rich and varied, with open paddocks giving way to eucalypt forests, native grasslands and bush alive with birds and wildflowers.

Learn about the history of the area along the way as you pass the former Chinese settlement site at Nintingbool, numerous railway remains and picturesque timber trestle bridges. The largest and most impressive of these, Nimmons Bridge, is not yet open to trail users but can be viewed via a short detour.

Allow some time to wander around some of the small towns along the trail, such as Linton, with its nineteenth century church and local craft markets.

The trail can be found on the western side of Ballarat where it crosses the Avenue of Honour. It is best suited to experienced cyclists as it is still being developed, with some rough sections and a couple of diversions.