Leanganook Track
Castlemaine and Bendigo
58km walk between Castlemaine and Bendigo.
Passes Through:
- Castlemaine
- Chewton
- Expedition Pass
- Mt Alexander
- Bendigo
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Site sponsored by City of Ballarat
Developed by Knowers Ark
Heritage Park Walk
Castlemaine - Calder Highway 14.5km
Traces of the alluvial gold rush era are everywhere evident in this Walk through the Castlemaine Diggings and Forest Creek goldfields from the sandstone walls of one roomed minersí huts, to puddling sites that were to become dominated by Chinese in the 1860s, and the foundations for the giant Garfield water wheel driven battery, which crushed quartz for gold until the start of the 20th century.
This first part of the walk comes follows Forest Creek and comes close to the historic Pennyweight Cemetery on the fringes of the former gold workings, now preserved as an historic site and which should form a short side trip. It passes the massive stone foundations of the former 21.5m diameter Garfield water wheel that once drove a 15 head quartz-crushing battery. Later the walk passes the Expedition Pass Reservoir constructed to bring water off the Great Dividing Range to the goldfields from the Malmsbury Reservoir on the Coliban River. Before this walk meets the busy Calder Highway (take good care if you cross) it passes an obelisk that commemorates the discovery of gold on the Castlemaine Diggings in July 1851.
The entry station can be located in Castlemaine .
Goldfield Ruins