The EastLink Trail is a

shared use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

for

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

and

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

s in the outer eastern/southeastern suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The trail gets its name from the north-south EastLink

tollway A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

, along which it follows for most of its length from Ringwood to

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

,Melbourne and Geelong's shared paths in Google Earth
/ref> until it joins the

Dandenong Creek Trail __NOTOC__ The Dandenong Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Dandenong Creek through the outer eastern and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Route The trail can be divided int ...

near the

Dandenong Bypass The Dandenong Bypass is a highway in the state of Victoria, Australia that runs along the Dingley Freeway reservation from Springvale Road in Keysborough to the South Gippsland Highway in Dandenong South. History The Dandenong Bypass was compl ...

bridge at the tri-suburban junction between Dandenong,

Dandenong South Dandenong South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 31 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Dandenong South recorded a population of 125 a ...

and

Keysborough Keysborough is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 27 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Keysborough recorded a population of 30,018 at the . ...

Route

The path passes through or near to: * Mullum Mullum Valley,

Ringwood Bypass The Ringwood Bypass is a short stretch of road extending from EastLink to Maroondah Highway in Melbourne, Australia. It allows the Maroondah Highway to bypass Eastland Shopping Centre, in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Ringwood. Route The b ...

, Schwerkolt Cottage, and Eastland ( Mullum Mullum Creek Trail) * Simpsons Park / Heatherdale Reserve Proclamation Park * Koomba Park (briefly combined with

) and Wantirna Reserve * Blind Creek / Llewellyn Park Complex and the Blind Creek Trail * Nortons Park, Shepherds Bush, and Drummies Bridge Reserve *

Jells Park Jells Park is a public park in Wheelers Hill, a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The park opened on 30 April 1976 and is named after Joseph Jell, a cattle grazier who worked in the area in the mid-late 1800s. The park attra ...

(including trail network) and Chesterfield Farm * Corhanwarrbul Creek Wetlands,

Dandenong Creek The Dandenong Creek ( Aboriginal Bunwurrung: ''Narra Narrawong'' or ''Dandinnong'') is an urban creek of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian east coast state of Vic ...

and Tirhatuatan Park (briefly rejoining the

between Wellington Road and EastLink-Dandenong Creek overpass) * Fotheringham Reserve, Mile Creek, and Greaves Reserve The trail ends after crossing the

just upstream of the

bridge, where it permanently joins the

. The

then follows the creek along the EastLink tollway as far as

Bangholme Bangholme is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Greater Dandenong local government area. Bangholme recorded a population of 749 at the . Located adjac ...

, where it then heads west to the National Watersports Complex,

Patterson Lakes Patterson Lakes is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston local government area. Patterson Lakes recorded a population of 7,793 at the 2021 census ...

, Carrum Foreshore, the Bayside Trail and beyond. Footbridges cross EastLink at a number of points along the trail, and another takes path users across the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

. Two additional footbridges completed construction in 2009: a footbridge over

Maroondah Highway Maroondah Highway (also known as Whitehorse Road from Deepdene, Victoria, Deepdene to Mitcham, Victoria, Mitcham) is a major east–west thoroughfare in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and a highway connecting the north-eastern fringes of Mel ...

and a 60 m footbridge over

Burwood Highway Burwood Highway is a major transportation link with Melbourne, Melbourne's eastern suburbs. It begins in the suburb of Kooyong, Victoria, Kooyong, Melbourne at the junction of the Monash Freeway as Toorak Road between Monash Freeway and Warriga ...

at the intersection with

Mountain Highway Mountain Highway (also known as Wantirna–Sassafras Road) is an 18 km west–east highway located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, linking the outer fringes of the city to the Dandenong Ranges. Route Mountain Highway starts at the ...

Connections

The EastLink Trail connects to numerous other paths: To the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail in the north and close by is the Koonung Creek Trail. Centrally it connects to the Blind Creek Trail just south of High Street and comes close to the

Scotchmans Creek Trail __NOTOC__ The Scotchmans Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Scotchmans Creek through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from East Malvern railway station through to Jells P ...

. At Ferntree Gully Road it connects to the

Ferny Creek Trail __NOTOC__ The Ferny Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Ferny and Corhanwarrabul Creeks through the suburbs of Knoxfield and Ferntree Gully in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Bicycle Victoria is campaign ...

. In the south at

, it connects to the

. Two sections of the EastLink Trail utilise sections of the older

. North end at . South end at .

References

*''Bike rides around Melbourne'' 3rd edition, 2009, Julia Blunden, Open Spaces Publishing,

External links

*
Walking and Cycling Trails in Melbourne
at Google Maps (see ''Eastern Melbourne → EastLink Trail'') Bike paths in Melbourne {{melbourne-geo-stub