Early in 2011 DSE closed the Lerderderg Track between Jubilee Lake and St Leonards Hill following storm damage. The track is still closed. GDTA has repeatedly requested that the track be reopened. At a meeting with DSE Midlands District in November 2011 the GDTA asked DSE to take urgent action to reopen the track.

DSE have advised that only DSE posts are allowed on their land. This means that on the Lerderderg Track between Jubilee Lake and Blackwood, DSE will replace all green GDT posts with grey DSE posts.

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Lerderderg Track

Bacchus Marsh to Daylesford
71km following the Lerderderg River Valley

The Great Dividing Trail concept, as originally envisaged in 1992, involved three Stages, all of which are now complete. The Great Dividing Trail Association later added the Lerderderg Track between Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh. Unlike the rest of the GDT (and the Goldfields Track in particular), several parts of the Lerderderg Track are not suitable for mountain bike riding.

The Great Dividing Trail Association received strong support from the Shire of Moorabool, Parks Victoria, Friends of the Lerderderg and the Victorian State Goverment for the completion of this second half of the Lerderderg Track to Bacchus Marsh.

The full colour Lerderderg Track map is available directly from GDTA ($7.50 posted) or from local tourist information centers.

Richard Piesse was the Great Dividing Trail Project Leader for this Lerderderg Track extension.

NOTE 1: A section of the track between Blackwood Springs Reserve and North Blackwood road is very slippery when wet. We strongly advise  not walking this section of track and using Golden Point Road.

Note 1B: Parks Victoria on April 8 2011 advised the Lerderderg Track is covered with flood debris approximately 50 metres north of the bridge over the Lerderderg River on North Blackwood Road. There is a set of steps which come down from the water race to the edge of the river. This is where the track is blocked. With the current water levels it is very easy to rock hop across the river and proceed down to the bridge and North Blackwood Road. 

 NOTE 2: The Track Distance Table only covers the section from Daylesford to Blackwood. It is: 8.8 km from Blackwood to O'Briens Rd, 11 km from O'Briens Rd to Mt Blackwood, 12.6 km from Mt Blackwood to Swan's Rd entry station and 9.0 km from Swans Rd entry station to Bacchus Marsh Railway Station. The full walk from Bacchus Marsh RS to Blackwood is 41.4 km. The Total Lerderderg Track length from Daylesford to Bacchus Marsh is 80.1 km.

NOTE 3: (January 2011) A reminder that if you begin your walk from the Daylesford end you’ll notice light grey posts (with the GDT logo) from Jubilee Lake for several kms. These are DSE posts and have replaced the green GDT posts that were burned in the February 2009 fires.

The Department of Sustainability & Environment (DSE) have approved a new standard for all posts that are on land they manage: only DSE posts can be planted from now on. This means that when green GDT posts go missing or are vandalized, they can only be replaced by the light grey DSE posts. Unfortunately, there are several posts missing or out of the ground between the Balt Camp and Specimen Gully Dam and we’re not allowed to replant them ...

 

NOTE 4: DSE Midlands advised in late Jan 2011 that the Lerderderg Track between Daylesford and Blackwood was CLOSED as a result of the recent storm damage. Several trees are down, signs are obscured and there is significant road damage. 

 

 

 

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