I want this message to get out there: The Goldfields Track, from Ballarat to Bendigo, is an absolute blast. A couple of mates and I (Yeehaar and Rhino on here) just did it over the weekend, and if you’re looking for a bit of an epic weekend, and like to ride off road, this must be one of the best options close to Melbourne.
In terms of what to take, if you are a maestro cross rider, you could probably get through on a CX bike, though I’d say you’ll be missing the bigger bags of mtb tires, and slower pace and/or many pinch flats will result. The 650B rando crew would probably be OK with a knobby (45+ mm) tire, and any decent mountain bike would be totally fine.
It’s well signposted and offers pretty much every type of riding you could wish for… some very steep, loose, rockly descents (and ascents), flowy, tacky singletrack, heaps and heaps of spur/gully loose-over-hard goldfields singletrack, fireroad, dirt road and a bit of bitumen.
I found my favourite sausage roll of all time, too. Pastry King in Daylesford. Worth a visit.
I do indeed! I will get them onto my flickr/send em through to you, mate. the pics are very fireroad/ditroad centric as I always find it hard to get a camera out and snap away while riding singletrack
The stop for Henry of Harcourt cider was v nice, too.
I dont have any GPS files, but the marking really is great. There are a few areas where trails are going off in all directions, and there are marker posts every 80m or so.
Yeehaar made himself a very nice little seatpost bag for the trip, Rhino used his custom frame/bar/saddle bags and I had a backpack either on my back or strapped to a normal pannier rack. A summer trip would mean pretty much no baggage necessary but a bit more water.
Would be super keen to try it one day too. It says you can bush camp in the national park areas but not private land. Many people camping along the way?
No many, there is a campgroun halfway between Daylesford and Castlemaine which is really nice, however once you are in the goldfields track there are campsites a-plenty.
I am bikepacking this route every couple of months, with the plan to hold a “race” along it in FEB.
Hey Rhino, cool blog and the ‘race’ sounds interesting.
Do you know of a good resource for info on the campsites along the way? (names/distances/facilities/etc.) The goldfields trail site, although pretty good, doesn’t seem to have much information regarding them.
I am “thinking” at this stage it will start Bendigo train station and finish at Castlemaine train station (with start and finish time verified by taking a photo of yourself under the clock on the platform).
It will travel from Bendigo -> Castlemaine -> Daylesford -> Ballarat, make your way down to Bacchus Marsh, and then up the goldfields track from Bacchus Marsh -> Dayelsford -> Castlemaine.
It was going to start and finish in Bendigo, but you really only want to ride between Castlemaine -> Bendigo once as its rail trail. It will go up and over the mountain before castlemaine, but will avoid the singletrack around Daylesford, instead popping out at Hepburn Springs and then riding the road towards Daylesford Lake.
The only hold-up is deciding which route to take between Bendigo and Bacchus marsh, I am inclined to make it go up and over Mt Bunninyong (as per the real GDT route), however I want it limited to under 500kms.
More exploration is underway, as I know of an alternative between Bacchus Marsh and Daylesford which is amazing…
feel free to post the idea up on bikepacking VIC blog…
