The Great Southern Rail Trail is a 109-kilometre

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

from

Nyora Nyora is a town in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shires of Baw Baw, Cardinia and South Gippsland local government areas. Nyora recorded a populat ...

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

South Gippsland South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promon ...

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 ...

. This mostly flat or gently undulating trail goes through lush dairy farmland, areas of remnant bush and lowland scrub. It climbs from the foothills of Fish Creek up past Mount Hoddle and then down a steep descent through dense forest out into magnificent views of

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nearb ...

and

Corner Inlet The Corner Inlet is a bay located south-east of Melbourne in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Of Victoria's large bays it is both the easternmost and the warmest. It contains intertidal mudflats, mangroves, salt marsh and s ...

, continuing on to Foster. before ending at Welshpool. The trail is well maintained with a surface of compacted gravel.

Koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

Wombat Wombats are short-legged, muscular quadrupedal marsupials that are native to Australia. They are about in length with small, stubby tails and weigh between . All three of the extant species are members of the family Vombatidae. They are adap ...

s and

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

can often be seen from the trail particularly in the early mornings and evenings. The 10 km Toora to Welshpool section was opened on 7 February 2015. A section from Koonwarra to Minns road was opened in March 2016 incorporating what were three very dilapidated wooden trestle bridges. This section replaces what was a three kilometer diversion to the nearby

South Gippsland Highway The South Gippsland Highway is a partially divided highway in Victoria, Australia which connects the city of Melbourne with the South Gippsland region of Victoria, ending in the town of Sale. The highway begins at Lonsdale Street (Princes High ...

. The section provides a continuous rail from Leongatha to Welshpool. Users can then link to a 6 km pathway to Port Welshpool and its picturesque Long Jetty. Two trestle bridges north of Loch were surfaced in late 2022 which completed the trail between Nyora and

Loch ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots and Irish language, Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is Cognate, cognate with the Manx language, Manx lough, Cornish language, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh language, Welsh w ...

, bringing the total trail length from Nyora to Welshpool to 107 km. The trail is being progressively extended, and may eventually reach

Port Albert Port Albert is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia, on the coast of Corner Inlet on the Yarram - Port Albert Road, south-east of Morwell, south-east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington. At the , Port Albert had a population of 293. L ...

and

Yarram The township of Yarram (formerly Yarram Yarram) is in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Wellington, located in the southeast of Gippsland. At the , the population of the town was . The town is the regional centre of a prosperous farming distri ...

History

The original South Gippsland line opened in 1892, joining

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 ...

, with branch line to Woodside, Strzelecki, Outtrim and

Wonthaggi Wonthaggi is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsl ...

. The railway was important for the settlement and development of the area, particularly providing transport for forestry and dairy products to Melbourne. The line was closed to all rail traffic on 30 June 1992, a

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

after opening, when rail freight services to the Esso Mobil

Barry Beach Barry Allan Beach (born February 15, 1962) is an American who was sentenced to life in prison, life imprisonment without parole in 1984 for the 1979 murder of Kimberly Nees in Poplar, Montana. During the years following his conviction, Beach gaine ...

Marine Terminal, situated on

, ceased operation. Almost two weeks prior, on 17 June 1992,

superphosphate Triple superphosphate is a component of fertilizer that primarily consists of monocalcium phosphate, Ca(H2PO4)2. Triple superphosphate is obtained by treating phosphate rock with phosphoric acid. Traditional routes for extraction of phosphate rock ...

rail freight services along the line to Buffalo ceased, which was the last 'mixed goods service' in the region and a distinctive feature of the line during its existence. The line beyond

Leongatha Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located south-east of Melbourne. At the , Leongatha had a population of 5,869. Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia ...

, to

and Barry Beach, was dismantled in stages until 14 December 1994, when a V/Line 'rail recovery' train removed the last of the tracks, which were subsequently reused for the Melbourne to Adelaide railway line gauge standardisation project throughout 1995. The same day also saw the closure of the South Gippsland railway line from

to Leongatha, but, two weeks later, that section of the line was reopened by the

South Gippsland Railway The South Gippsland Railway was a tourist railway located in South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It controlled a section of the former South Gippsland railway line between Nyora and Leongatha, and operated services from Leongatha to Nyora, ...

tourist railway, which operated heritage rail services until December 2015. The establishment of the South Gippsland Railway, and the electrification of the Cranbourne line in March 1995, thwarted the original plan by the Victorian state government to dismantle the entire line as far back as Cranbourne. The South Gippsland Railway formally ceased operations on 16 January 2016.

Rail trail route

Nyora to Leongatha via Korumburra

Construction of sections of the trail from Nyora to Leongatha are in progress in 2021. The following sections were open as at November 2021: * Trail through Leongatha * Leongatha to Lows Road * O’Neills Road to Korumburra * Trail through Korumburra * Bena to Loch * Berrys Road to Nyora In late 2022 two high trestle bridges north of Loch (over Allsop Creek and the Bass River) were surfaced which completed the trail between Nyora and Loch. The section from Korumburra to Leongatha was completed in April 2022.

Leongatha to Koonwarra (8km)

is located in the foothills of South Gippsland's

Strzelecki Ranges The Strzelecki Ranges (pronounced STREHZ leckee) is a set of low mountain ridges located in the West Gippsland and South Gippsland regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The Ranges are named after Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, a Polish expl ...

with a population around 5,000. The trail passes through wide-open spaces of lush dairy country before entering teatree and eucalypt bushland near

Koonwarra Koonwarra is a town in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. At the , Koonwarra had a population of 404. The town straddles the South Gippsland Highway. Located around 128 km southeast of Melbourne, the town was served by rail ...

Koonwarra to Minns Rd (3km)

Incorporating a new section of trail covering three old wooden trestle bridges. The path winds its way around hills and over river flats with wonderful views of the local area.

Minns Rd to Meeniyan (6km)

This is a fairly rough section of the track, and there is an old timber bridge alongside the new bridge over the

Tarwin River The Tarwin River is a perennial river of the West Gippsland catchment, located in the South Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. The Tarwin River is the primary river system within South Gippsland Shire and has a catchment area ...

near Meeniyan.

Meeniyan to Foster, via Buffalo and Fish Creek (32km)

* Meeniyan to Stony Creek (3.5 km) * Stony Creek to Buffalo (8 km) * Buffalo to Fish Creek (8 km) * Fish Creek to Lowrys Rd (5 km) * Lowrys Rd to Foster (7.5 km) This section of the trail has a fine gravel surface and passes through bushland, swamp scrub and lowland forest. There is abundant local wildlife; kangaroos, wallabies and bird life thrive in this area. At the foothills of the Hoddle Range, there are steeper parts of the trail and a number of cuttings and embankments. The quirky town of Fish Creek has a strong arts scene and plenty of options to eat and restock supplies. There is a climb from Fish Creek to Hoddle Summit where there are views over

and

from the peak. Foster is a small regional town but caters well for visitors and there are plenty of accommodation options.

Foster to Welshpool (18km)

* Foster to Charity Lane (1 km) * Charity Lane to

Toora Toora is a small farming town in Victoria, Australia whose main industry is dairy farming. It is located at the top of Corner Inlet opposite Wilsons Promontory National Park. In the the population was 681. History The Post Office opened on ...

(7 km) * Toora to

(10 km)

Welshpool to Port Welshpool connecting trail (5 km)

A trail connects Welshpool with Port Welshpool on the coast. The trail is initially an off-road bike path, then joins a quiet unsealed road which follows the alignment of the former horse-drawn Port Welshpool Tramway. Port Welshpool has views of Corner Inlet, Snake Island and the northern section of Wilsons Promontory National Park, and the Port Welshpool Long Jetty.

Welshpool to Alberton

Funding for the extension of a section of the trail from Welshpool to Alberton was announced on 7 July 2021.