Friends of the Great Victorian Rail Trail

Friends of the Great Victorian Rail Trail

Formed in late 2017, Friends of the Great Victorian Rail Trail is a community group of ‘like minded volunteers’ working to provide input to the three respective Shires; Mansfield, Murrindindi and Mitchell around the ongoing management, development and promotion of the rail trail to increase its economic benefit to the local communities.

The Friends of the GRVT group was formed in response to the need to further develop the rail trail, to act as a contact point for the various stakeholders with a common interest in the trail, and to work as an advocacy body for improvements to the asset. Increasing usage of the rail trail is essential to its sustainability and an important means of encouraging the development of this very valuable community asset.

Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month at the Up2Us Landcare Alliance Office, 24 Highett Street. If you are interested in joining or helping with this Friends Group, then contact Ross Vaughan (Chair) on 5775 1332 or email at friendsofgvrt@gmail.com.

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Tour de Trail 2023

On March 12, over 130 cyclists of various ages and abilities enjoyed a bike ride along the Great Victorian Rail Trail (GVRT) starting and finishing in Mansfield.

Organised by the ‘Friends of the Great Victorian Rail Trail’, this non-competitive bike ride offered the choice of two destinations: Maindample or Bonnie Doon including riding across the Lake Eildon rail trail bridge.

With Tour de Trail gaining in popularity, a large percentage of riders came from many parts of Victoria to experience the beauty of the rail trail. Many for the first time. The longer sector to Bonnie Doon proved to be the most popular.

On their return to Mansfield, participants were greeted by live easy listening music from Marty Jones before enjoying a sausage sizzle by ‘A Third Hand’. Local tourism operators were also on-hand to talk with participants about their product offerings and services.

At the conclusion of the event, David Mayne, Chair of Mansfield and District Community Enterprises drew the lucky winners of the raffle to raise funds for Friends of the GVRT activities.

This annual event was made possible by the sponsorship of the Bendigo Bank, Mansfield and District. Raffle prizes were generously donated by Mansfield Apartments and Bushwalks, Yarck Bikes, All Terrain Cycles and Trawool Estate.