A fairly busy, family-friendly trail with cellar-door-to-door pit stops along the way. Because wine-not?
Wangaratta to Bright loop |
KM 170 km |
Terrain Fire trail - Sealed |
Elevation 599 m |
Wangaratta to Bright loop |
KM 170 km |
Terrain Fire trail - Sealed |
Elevation 599 m |
Trail Overview
We'll give it to the Victorians, they love their rail trails and they're darn good at it too. The Murray to Mountain (M2M) is well maintained, well sign posted and well ridden. It can get pretty busy, bringing in more than 140,000 visitors annually - we even went on the last few days of the school holidays so it got very busy on certain sections of the trail.
The trail showcases the best of wine country so you can plan to cycle to from cellar-door-to-door if you're into wine. During our planning stage, we read a lot about the long uphill from Wangaratta to Yackandandah which we weren't too keen on, so check out the route we mapped out below.
There's bathrooms at the rail trail station pitstops, and good food/ cafes in the towns along the way. We had no issues with water supply (if you're well equipped, and stock up as you go), and we didn't have too much trouble finding dog-friendly accommodation along the trail. Highly recommend staying in Bright for more than a day - it's such a pretty and interesting town to explore. Overall, you're in for a pleasant ride if you don't mind the crowd or two.
The trail showcases the best of wine country so you can plan to cycle to from cellar-door-to-door if you're into wine. During our planning stage, we read a lot about the long uphill from Wangaratta to Yackandandah which we weren't too keen on, so check out the route we mapped out below.
There's bathrooms at the rail trail station pitstops, and good food/ cafes in the towns along the way. We had no issues with water supply (if you're well equipped, and stock up as you go), and we didn't have too much trouble finding dog-friendly accommodation along the trail. Highly recommend staying in Bright for more than a day - it's such a pretty and interesting town to explore. Overall, you're in for a pleasant ride if you don't mind the crowd or two.
The Route
We cycled over 4 days, choosing a relatively easy route with not a lot of elevation. The ride from Wangaratta to Yackandandah via Beechworth has a 578m elevation over 44kms (10kms of that ride has a 251m incline). We're crazy, but we're not that crazy to do it with the extra-pooch-weight, plus the dogs won't find it fun either. We opted for the southern trail from Wangaratta to Bright and back via Myrtleford which only involved a 599m elevation in total.
You'll be riding on a mix of maintained sealed and fire trail terrain that passes mostly through private properties, bushland reserves, plantations and towns. Each Rail Trail (RT) Station pitstop has a drop toilet and access to free untreated water from their rainwater harvesting system.
Our Google map below maps our route with accommodation options that allow pets, dog friendly restaurants, and pet friendly wineries.
You'll be riding on a mix of maintained sealed and fire trail terrain that passes mostly through private properties, bushland reserves, plantations and towns. Each Rail Trail (RT) Station pitstop has a drop toilet and access to free untreated water from their rainwater harvesting system.
Our Google map below maps our route with accommodation options that allow pets, dog friendly restaurants, and pet friendly wineries.
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Day 1: Wangaratta - Myrtleford - 54kms
Parking in Wangaratta:
The adventure always starts with trying to find a safe all-day spot to park your car. Seeing as you'll be leaving it unattended for 4-days we always look for a part of town that's heavily frequented or somewhere with CCTV. This usually leads us to streets near supermarkets, schools or parks, which hasn't failed us yet (knock on wood). We originally planned to leave the car at Merriwa Park but the gates close after hours, so we found parking on Chisholm St near Reid St which has an Aldi across the road and a school down the road.
On the trail:
The trail starts alongside Frank Garth Reserve. Who is Frank Garth you ask? Garth was a commissioner who served the Ovens River Improvement and King River Trusts for 29 years (1954-1983) - there's a plaque erected for his service and dedication (he had nice bosses).
You'll find yourself on shared footpath and cycle path as you make your way out of Wangaratta, before leading you alongside a functioning rail line towards your first Rail Trail (RT) pitstop, Bowser Station. From here the sealed trail starts to thin down to accommodate for cyclists going two-ways.
As you make you way in an eastern-southernly direction, the trail takes you past private properties on either side, passing Reedy Creek Streamside Reserve into Londrigan, through more private cattle and sheep farm properties through Tarrawingee and to the next RT pitstop, Tarrawingee Station.
The ride into Everton is a pretty one through Everton Upper Reserve and a few private farm lands. The trail becomes mostly flat with bare grass fields on either end giving you stretches of sky all around you as you follow this thin trail that disappears into itself in the distance. You just keep cycling through this until you reach Everton Station and Everton Reserve, the cross road to the crazy incline east towards Beechworth.
Continuing south and through a few inclines we reached to a M2M welcome sign and signpost with a side road. A good spot to drop off or pick up cyclists. Following the sign pointing southward reading Myrtleford/ Bright and Millawa Gourmet Region and cycled south through more grassy paddocks filled with sheep, cows and cars... yep, a whole collection of cars parked on a field... enroute to Brookfield Station.
Passing by more long stretches of private property and crossing a few small roads, the trail runs alongside Great Alpine Rd but you don't even realise it because it feels so remote. This is also the part of the trail where the scenery starts to change. We follow a few climbs and dips as the trail starts to transform from long stretches of grassy fields, to cutting into grassy hills. It was mostly a climb to reach Bowman Station then to Taylors Gap. What goes up, must eventually come down so it's a nice enjoyable downhill on the other end, promise. This decline section wasn't as fun as on a bike back in 1883 when the actual rail line was in operation. This section was labelled "Bowmans Bank" and was the most dangerous part because of it's curve and incline. Brakes have failed resulting in some runaway trains and trains could catch on fire from brakes sparking the rails. This is why trackwork is so important people!
After Taylor's Gap, you cross Great Alpine Road, and it's a nice breeze of a downhill for a while. I turn around to catch Chino trying to hang as far off the side of the crate to catch air - biggest smile on her face (this is precisely the reason why she's strapped in via her chest and back). After the decline through the trees, the trail weaves you south to Gapsted Recreation Reserve, then Gapstead Estate, a choice dog-friendly winery to stop at.
It's a short ride into Myrtleford and the trail changes once again. The first thing you notice are the trees and the leaves. They're bigger and they line the trail beautifully like a welcoming party. We travel over the Barwidgee Creek Bridge and into the town centre, cycling past Michelini Wines; another pet-friendly winery worth the stop; before setting up camp at our campsite at Myrtleford Family Holiday Park, conveniently located right in the middle of town.
We found oursleves mostly on our own between Bowser to Bowman. From Bowman the trail got busier and busier the closer you get to Bright.
The adventure always starts with trying to find a safe all-day spot to park your car. Seeing as you'll be leaving it unattended for 4-days we always look for a part of town that's heavily frequented or somewhere with CCTV. This usually leads us to streets near supermarkets, schools or parks, which hasn't failed us yet (knock on wood). We originally planned to leave the car at Merriwa Park but the gates close after hours, so we found parking on Chisholm St near Reid St which has an Aldi across the road and a school down the road.
On the trail:
The trail starts alongside Frank Garth Reserve. Who is Frank Garth you ask? Garth was a commissioner who served the Ovens River Improvement and King River Trusts for 29 years (1954-1983) - there's a plaque erected for his service and dedication (he had nice bosses).
You'll find yourself on shared footpath and cycle path as you make your way out of Wangaratta, before leading you alongside a functioning rail line towards your first Rail Trail (RT) pitstop, Bowser Station. From here the sealed trail starts to thin down to accommodate for cyclists going two-ways.
As you make you way in an eastern-southernly direction, the trail takes you past private properties on either side, passing Reedy Creek Streamside Reserve into Londrigan, through more private cattle and sheep farm properties through Tarrawingee and to the next RT pitstop, Tarrawingee Station.
The ride into Everton is a pretty one through Everton Upper Reserve and a few private farm lands. The trail becomes mostly flat with bare grass fields on either end giving you stretches of sky all around you as you follow this thin trail that disappears into itself in the distance. You just keep cycling through this until you reach Everton Station and Everton Reserve, the cross road to the crazy incline east towards Beechworth.
Continuing south and through a few inclines we reached to a M2M welcome sign and signpost with a side road. A good spot to drop off or pick up cyclists. Following the sign pointing southward reading Myrtleford/ Bright and Millawa Gourmet Region and cycled south through more grassy paddocks filled with sheep, cows and cars... yep, a whole collection of cars parked on a field... enroute to Brookfield Station.
Passing by more long stretches of private property and crossing a few small roads, the trail runs alongside Great Alpine Rd but you don't even realise it because it feels so remote. This is also the part of the trail where the scenery starts to change. We follow a few climbs and dips as the trail starts to transform from long stretches of grassy fields, to cutting into grassy hills. It was mostly a climb to reach Bowman Station then to Taylors Gap. What goes up, must eventually come down so it's a nice enjoyable downhill on the other end, promise. This decline section wasn't as fun as on a bike back in 1883 when the actual rail line was in operation. This section was labelled "Bowmans Bank" and was the most dangerous part because of it's curve and incline. Brakes have failed resulting in some runaway trains and trains could catch on fire from brakes sparking the rails. This is why trackwork is so important people!
After Taylor's Gap, you cross Great Alpine Road, and it's a nice breeze of a downhill for a while. I turn around to catch Chino trying to hang as far off the side of the crate to catch air - biggest smile on her face (this is precisely the reason why she's strapped in via her chest and back). After the decline through the trees, the trail weaves you south to Gapsted Recreation Reserve, then Gapstead Estate, a choice dog-friendly winery to stop at.
It's a short ride into Myrtleford and the trail changes once again. The first thing you notice are the trees and the leaves. They're bigger and they line the trail beautifully like a welcoming party. We travel over the Barwidgee Creek Bridge and into the town centre, cycling past Michelini Wines; another pet-friendly winery worth the stop; before setting up camp at our campsite at Myrtleford Family Holiday Park, conveniently located right in the middle of town.
We found oursleves mostly on our own between Bowser to Bowman. From Bowman the trail got busier and busier the closer you get to Bright.
Day 2: Myrtleford - Bright - 30kms
By far, the busiest part of the M2M trail.
Gear
Accommodations
Myrtleford Family Holiday Park
