West Melbourne and Beyond

Koroit Creek Trail

The Kororoit Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Kororoit Creek in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne. This is not a continuous trail and is broken into three sections (as at October 2023). The first section is or upper section is located in Burnside and Deer Park (and is interrupted), the uninterrupted middle section starts in Ardeer and proceeds to Brooklyn and the lower section is located in Altona.

This article is devoted to the Altona section of the Koroit Creek trail and maybe expanded if we visit the rest of the trail. First off, this is a surprisingly great little trail due to the public installation of numerous art works along the trail. This elevates the walk from a standard urban nature walk.

As of October 2023 there are ten public art works spread along the Koroit Creek Trail. They are currently restricted to two types of artworks. The first type basically being huge figurines in various poses and guises and the other being coloured stick or stakes. Everyone has different tastes but personally the giant figurines were definitely more interesting for me.

Beside some of the figurines you will find plaques with poems to enhance the experience and get more out of the artworks.

Family Friendly

This is a family friendly walk as you have fully paved tracks and it is predominantly a very flat walk so is easy to do even for a relatively unfit person.

Also if you start your walk at GJ Hosken Reserve you have covered areas, toilet, playground, bbq area and car park making things nice an easy for you. In fact if you have children you might not even leave the reserve at the kids can just enjoy the extensive playground.

Even so if it is a particularly hot or sunny day always ensure you have plenty of water and sun protection, as these areas can be very hot and exposed. Also during the hot summer months be wary of snakes as this is their territory and they may cross the path.

Public Artworks

As outlined earlier it is the public artworks that make this walk stand out from a standard walk. We recommend doing this walk just so you can take a few selfies.

The impressive series of three metre high public artworks entitled ‘Spirits of Time and Place’ was created by Brooklyn artist Geoffrey Ricardo. Scale definitely is important and helps make these artworks standout, especially in an open outdoor setting.

Nature

The walk while in nature can probably best be described as an urban nature walk. There are a few unsealed bits that you can walk down to (optional) so that means you can do the entire walk on fully paved tracks. Being on fully paved tracks diminishes the nature component of the walk a bit but definitely makes it a lot more accessible.

The Koroit Creek walk has nice pleasant views and the Koroit Creek itself is relatively attractive. It doesn't feel like you are in a wilderness area but it still calms the mind and for basically being a a total suburban area is quite attractive while never being outstanding.

This section of Koroit Creek is of natural significance and used to be derelict industrial land. Thanks to the work of hundreds of community members led by Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek the creek has been turned into a mini wildlife and nature haven for residents and nature alike.

Location

The Koroit Creek Trail's Altona section has multiple possible entry points. The easiest and our recommendation is to start your walk at the GJ Hosken Reserve, 483–499 Blackshaws Rd, Altona North VIC 3025. This is only 9 minutes drive away from Altona.