The Yarrowee River Trail Network (part of the LINCS Trails in Ballarat) comprises seven off-road trails.  Most are in a corridor running from the Gong Gong Reservoir in the northeast of Ballarat, through the CBD and to the south, as far as Magpie.  Much of the Canadian Trail is sealed.  The other five are granite sand.

The major trail is the Yarrowee Trail, which connects the Gong Gong Reservoir to Magpie.  The Ballarat East Trails comprise a further five. The Canadian Trail is the seventh to make up the Network.

Yarrowee Trail is the major off-road path for recreational cyclists.  It traverses a roughly north-south spine through Ballarat, from Gong Gong Reservoir at its north, to the hamlet of Magpie to the south of the urban area.  The trail follows the Yarrowee River (you could be forgiven for thinking it a creek most of the time!), through parts of Ballarat's historic mining and industrial past, as well as outstanding bird habitat at either ends of the Trail.  The section in the CBD along Peel St to Grant St is busy and on-road.  Care is needed in this section. See the maps below.

The Yarrowee Trail may be traversed from any point to any other.  You don't need to ride the entire Trail, or you can take some diversions along intersecting routes to other destinations.  It's your choice.  A photo album of what you can expect to see along the way is provided.  It commences at Gong Gong Reservoir and finishes at Magpie Primary School.   Click here for a rider commentary.

The Ballarat East Trails provide interesting and safe routes to and from the Eureka Stockade, Ballarat Wildlife Park, Canadian Lead Primary School and an informal BMX track beyond Sparrow Ground Reserve.  Trails include the Pennyweight Trail, the Speciman Vale Trail, the Warrenheip Trail, the Bunny Trail and the Eureka Troopers Trail.  (This last one is the least cycle-friendly of the Trails, being more suited to pedestrains, with a considerable part on the footpaths/roads of Ballarat East.) See the maps below.

Canadian Trail follows the Canadian Creek and joins Ballarat East with the Mt. Clear Secondary College, and beyond to Damascus College, the University of Ballarat (Mt. Helen campus) and the picturesque township of historic Buninyong.  See the maps below. Click here for a rider commentary.

All Trails are colour coded, roughly according to the colours on the second of the maps below.  Keep an eye out for the confidence markers with their distinctive signage and colouring.  During 2010 confidence marker signs are being replaced with colour-coded grouted signs, as shown underneath the old ones below. (For pdf versions of the maps below, that are expandable and readily printed, click here.)

For an interactive Google Map of all the Yarrowee River Trail Network click here.