Old Beechy Rail Trail Ride, 4-5 March 2006
Report by George D & Alan B. Photos by Alan B & Robert W
Saturday, 4 March 2006
The Old Beechy Rail Trail runs for 30 miles (45 km) from Colac to Beech Forest through the Otways. The lowest point is at Gellibrand, about half way along, where there are a pub, a tourist park, and a general store. We were due to set out from Gellibrand for Beech Forest at 10.00 on the Saturday, but various holdups meant that George, Alan, Diane and Eric joined Robert and Jana some way along the track. Chris also came, but had tyre problems which prevented her joining the ride. She helped out as sag wagon driver instead.
According to the map, which is in a diverting mix of imperial and metric measurements, the distance from Gellibrand to Beech Forest is 12.5 miles and trail climbs nearly 1600 feet. That's about 20 km and quatre-cent quatre-vingt metres, for those of you who find French measurements more logical. The trail climbs for most of the way, but the gradient on the railway reservation is comfortable (about 1 in 36, according to a poster in Gellibrand).
Much of the trail is through forest, mostly eucalypt, but some softwood plantations. The surface is mainly good quality gravel, but there are stretches of ballast and the road surface is mainly loose gravel, leading to some falls and a lot of getting off and walking. For lack of adequate signposting, at one point, we had to ignore a notice saying there was no through road. At another we took a loop in the trail near Beech Forest.
The last few miles into Beech Forest are along a back road, with steep gradients and a lot of loose gravel. We all huffed and puffed our way into Beech Forest and ate a late lunch at the information centre. After we drank a lot of water and ate some lunch, we looked for facilities. There is no cappucino to be had. I used to think Beech Forest had neither beech trees nor forest. There is no forest, but on close examination, there are three or four small beech trees (Nothofagus cunninghami) near the information centre.
Alan, Robert and Jana returned down the trail (no wrong turnings this time), George returned along the highway via Ferguson (fast, even observing a 40 mph limit). Eric and Diane hitched a lift in the bus, Eric saying his brakes weren't up to the descent. We all had dinner at the Gellibrand pub, which was friendly and pretty good, but a bit noisy.
Sunday, 5 March 2006
Robert, Jana, Diane, Eric and Alan took the promisingly scenic route along the trail. The trail between Gellibrand and Karaween hugs the road and deviations from the railway route and a few short sharp dips gave us a minor taste of what was to come. After Karaween the trail departs from the original railway unless the trains had cogs for wheels. A girl coming down on a horse descended tentatively. Those of us still riding pushed up and frequently spun our rear wheels on dry leaves. Then the trail emerged from the trees, transformed to loose fine gravel and snaked it's way more steeply up a power line easement. There was no traction to ride up.
Down the other side there was a firm but moderately steep run to Watson and Faceys (Cashin's Road), OK in the dry, with a steel gate to ensure you stopped before it levelled out. Across Cashins Rd and after negotiating yet another of the trail's "Heinz 57 varieties" of individually and diabolically contrived trike-unfriendly gates (no two the same and two-people lifts frequently needed) we were then on the original railway route again. This was a steady but smooth climb through beautiful forest with tall earthen embankments bridging some deep gullies. This section ends at the '103 milepost' and the last diabolical gate that we found. At Barongarook Rd we became geographically embarrassed (see trail and map comments later), following the unimpressive road to Colac-Lavers Hill Rd. We never did find the back road entry into Colac promised by the map, and Chris picked up the party on the outskirts of Colac.
The former railway is like the Beechworth branch of the Murray to the Mountains trail, but the Old Beechy trail is far less finished and far less useable, mainly because less than half of it actually uses the rail reservation. It would be good to think it was a work in progress, but the funding has run out, and it seems to be a work in stasis. When off the reservation, the combination of the gradients and the surfaces mean that it is really only satisfactory for mountain bikes. Signage was mostly good and really only missing at those points where we really needed it, which means that the trail is best used by people who already know their way. The gradients are OK on the reservation, which is always easy to follow. But much of the reservation was sold off in 1964, after the railway was closed, and how that has done has left some bad feeling, making it hard for the trail developers to obtain permission to use the reservation where it crosses private land.
It is particularly trike unfriendly, because every few miles there is another failed but original design for a gate, over most of which we had to lift the trikes. A good measure to know we were off-track was if we hadn't met a diabolical gate within a few km. Several of these displays of misplaced ingenuity were impassable for mountain bikes.
Comments on sections of the trail, starting from Colac:
a) Baroongarook Rd to Colac: Didn't find it.
b) "Watson and Faceys" (Cashins Rd) to Baroongarook Rd. Very picturesque railway route and quite good surface.
c) Kawarren to "Watson and Faceys"(Cashins Rd): Good for mountain bikesand walkers.
d) Gellibrand to Kawarren. Mostly railway route and pleasant but with just a couple of short sharp bits where it's difficult to get wheel traction.
e) Gellibrand to Banool: Pleasant though with rocky surface at Banool end.
f) Banool to Wimba: A mixture of average to rough railway route and very average dirt road where two-wheelers need to take care not to slip on some sections.
g) Wimba to Dinmont: Very picturesque railway route and quite good surface, with no gate problems.
h) Dinmont to Beech Forest:Â Very average dirt road but with some nice views. The tempting diabolically gated trail is not a through way.
In the current state of the trail b) and g) are perhaps the most pleasant rides.
The map is accurate in many ways. It does say "some sections are only suitable for mountain bikes". Very accurate! Sections of the trail are certainly not narrow-tyre friendly and a good range of gears is essential. The elevation profile is clearly labelled "former railway" which is probably correct, but it doesn't reflect the current trail profile in the several sections that deviate significantly from the original rail trail. The red dot for Barongarook being the same size as Gellibrand we expected to find something there, but it must have been well hidden. We suspect the toilets must have been on the eastern side of Baroongarook Rd. A supplementary decent road map would have been an asset. Heed the warnings to carry food and extra water, you'll likely need it!