Creswick Trails and Hammon Park Trailhead are transformative projects for Creswick and the region. Together, they will form a network that will feature 60 kilometres of purpose built mountain bike trails through the Regional Park, State Forest and plantation lands, just outside of Creswick with a trailhead located at Hammon Park. Construction of the Creswick Trails is well underway with more than half of the trails nearing completion.

Hammon Park Trailhead is complete and open for use. Features include a play area, climbing rope tower, pump track, cycling jumps, amenities including a Changing Place accessible toilet, maps, signage, learn to ride tracks, BBQ area and future connection to the Creswick Trails.


Naming sections of the Creswick Trails

We invited submissions from the community to help name segments of the Creswick Trails. Of the 70 individual trail segments and hubs, 50% (35 segments) will carry names in Dja Dja Wurrung language. The remaining 50% will be named by the community with ten names being suggested by Creswick's VOGA cycling club and 25 names from the community and stakeholder groups.

Thank you to everyone who made a submission. This engagement has now closed.

A panel will review the names for compliance with the State Government principles and compile a list of the draft names which will be published on this website.

The draft list will be presented to Council and submitted to the State Government’ s Geographic Names Victoria who will have the final say in determining where and how the names are assigned.

Construction Update - February 2024

The construction of the Creswick Trails continues to progress on schedule with the good summer weather. Crews have begun to lay the foundation work for bridges and platforms that will form part of the completed trail network. The footings are square with yellow caps. Underneath the ground there are supports and anchors to secure the platform in place.

As we progress toward opening in December 2024, we begin to look toward naming of the trail segments. Starting on 19 February, we will be making a call out to the community to submit name proposals for the trail segments. There are some guidelines set by the State Government that we will include as part of the call out. So put your thinking caps on!

While we are in construction, please stay out of the construction zone and off any trails that are in construction. Trespassing is not only unsafe for you and our construction crews, it has the potential to damage new trails and slow down our progress.

Footings for Platform

Construction Update - December 2023

We have a lot to celebrate at the end of 2023 as our network of trails at Creswick begins to emerge. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the journey from the trails network being an amazing idea in 2015, advocating for the project, supporting funding proposals to State Government, participating in design engagement and now watching as the network comes to life.

We are over halfway through the construction now with work to take an end of year break until early January 2024.

In the early part of 2024 priorities will be continuing to build trails, progressing with implementing bridges and platforms and beginning work around St Georges Lake and Koala Park. Works in these key visitor nodes will mean that some areas will be inaccessible to visitors to allow trails construction to commence. There will be signage onsite as well as more information on Council and Parks Victoria's website regarding any temporary disruptions to the Wallaby or Goldfields Track.

In January, we will be reaching out to you for suggestions for names of individual trails or loops. There are some guidelines published by the State Government that we will need to be mindful of, but we'd love a local flair on trails names.

This engagement will be launched here and through Council's social media platforms.

Wishing you a happy end of year season. Stay safe!

Restricting Access to St Georges Lake Road

A portion of St Georges Lake Rd has been incorporated into the alignment of the Creswick Trails. This portion travels along the northern edge of St Georges Lake and is a windy dirt section of road. Because trails in this location are designed to carry both walkers and cyclists, the road in this location will be closed to cars and trucks with exception of emergency services.

This change will take place in early 2024 and yes not have an end date.

Map

Construction Update - November 2023

Construction of trails has hit the 50% mark with a collective 30 kilometres of trails complete or in progress. This is an exciting milestone and we are very happy with the progress. While we have crossed the halfway point, we are not yet able to open up any trails for use at this time. We've put together some FAQs below with answers to some common questions we've received.

We have 4-6 crews active at any one time, each building elements of the overall alignment. Because of this, the trails we've been working on are are not all in a continuous line. Trails currently in construction are not complete and do not have bridges and platforms in place. This means that they may not be safe to ride. Please stay out of the construction zone to assist Dirt Art, our contractor, to maintain a safe worksite for the public and the trail builders. Time is wasted repairing trails and exclusionary barriers that could be spent building trails!

We have always expected construction of the network of 60 kilometers to take up to two years to build. This places the anticipated completion date for the network as December 2024. This has not changed since we began construction and we are working within this timeline for an on time delivery.

Protection of Native Habitat

In order to construct trails, some native ground cover and trees have to be removed. We are careful during construction and only remove what we have to in order to build trails. The top layers of soil are scraped away exposing the subsoil which is shaped according to the ride experience and challenge of the trails being constructed.

The native vegetation is worked back into the edges of the trails as part of the finishing process. We have also greatly reduced the need to remove native trees through careful ground preparation and micro siting on the ground before constructing and alignment.

Creswick Trails Network - Construction Methods

Construction on the Creswick Trails began in late January 2023 with the appointment of construction contractor Dirt Art. Crews will be constructing trails with 4-6 crews active in the bush at any one time. Each crew contains a small excavator and several trails groomers. The machine operator roughs in trails with the groomers following with pruning shears, rakes, shovels and other hand tools to build the trails.

Before construction, each alignment is walked by the team with input from our project experts - an archaeologist, cultural historian and ecologist - as required. Trails are being constructed to the approved trails alignments. You can see maps of the approved alignments in the Document Library on this page.

Hammon Park - Open for play!

Hammon Park Trailhead (Water Street, Creswick) is complete and has been formally opened for use.

In addition to serving as the trailhead for the Creswick Trails, Hammon Park is now a fully self-contained community-focused reserve with cycling being the primary activity, for all ages.

Hammon Park Highlights include:

  • Cycling jumps to complement the existing pump track
  • Children’s Playspace with undercover sandpit, nest swing, balancing, hopping and bouncing equipment
  • Large rope climbing structure
  • Undercover BBQ area with double burner electric BBQ and picnic table
  • Learn to ride track with a scaled down version of elements found on the Creswick Trails
  • Accessible concrete paths
  • Garden beds, new turf areas, tree planting and naturalized drainage swales
  • Paved area for food trucks and three GPOs for events
  • Shaded seating area x2
  • Carpark extension to double available parking
  • New toilet block with 3 ambulant and one accessible cubicle (with shower)
  • Changing Place toilet facility accessible with MLAK key (available upon request according to need)
  • Cyclocross stairs and sandpit
  • Pedestrian and cycling bridge across Creswick Creek
  • Bike wash, Bike repair station, E-bike chargers x2
  • Bins, seats and 2 water fountains.

Please reach out for more information.

Planning the Creswick Trails

We undertook a substantial amount of planning and design for the Creswick Trails Network. It's all linked here. Please note, any reference to Stage One and Stage Two trails should be understood as a remnant of the historic planning process. The complete Creswick Trails Network is the 60 kilometres currently under construction.

  • FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions. This is a good place to start learning more about the planning of the Creswick Trails Network as it provides a series of questions across key categories including Approvals, Engagement, Environment and Experience.
  • Community Feedback and How it was used to progress the Trails design. This document contains community engagement feedback detail and how that information has been used to progress the design for the Creswick Trails Project.
  • Creswick Trails Network maps.Taking on your feedback from the earlier engagement, the maps have been designed to provide information on land tenure, trail type, proximity to existing landmarks and formal trails and site context
  • Creswick Trails Trail Development Plan. The Trail Development plan provides detail for how the trails will be constructed and the ride experience the offer.
  • Creswick Mountain Bike Trail Cultural Heritage Management Plan. A report assessing the cultural heritage of sites, areas or artefacts within the project area. This report has been discussed and provided to the Dja Dja Wurrung. Note: This report was updated on 30 June 2021 with a formal letter stating that the plan has been approved by Djarra (Dja Dja Wurrung).
  • Creswick Mountain Bike Trails, Victoria: Historic Survey Report. Document detailing the survey of European history within the project area and the methodology for avoiding and managing significant areas and artefacts. This document has been discussed and provided to Heritage Victoria.
  • Arborist Report/Tree management Plan: Creswick Trails Project. Report assessing the trees within the project area and methods for managing impact during planning, use and construction. Note: This report has been updated on 30 June 2021 to correct an error and provide clarification. No substantive changes were made to the report.
  • Creswick Mountain Bike Trail: Flora and fauna assessment. Document assessing the flora and fauna of the project including relevant legislation and compliance measures.
  • Creswick Trails Environmental Management Plan. Plan detailing how environmental concerns will be managed during the construction of Trails. This document is a practical and procedural document.
  • Bushfire Management Statement for the proposed Creswick Trails. Statement regarding bushfire risk in the project area. Note: An Emergency Management Plan (EMP) will be developed and tested before the Creswick Trails Network Trails open for use. The EMP will detail emergency procedures, indicators, roles and responsibilities and other practical information.
  • Contact Us

    Should you have questions or just want to learn more about this exciting project, contact our Project Manager:

    Name Alison Breach
    Email abreach@hepburn.vic.gov.au