The Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is a medium to easy walk that is 9km long. It is one of two walks that start at the Garden of St Erth carpark area. The other track being the much shorter Whipstick Loop Walk (5km). If you can only do one of the walks then I recommend doing the Whipstick Loop Walk which is outsanding for a 5km walk. The Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is part of the Great Dividing Trail.
However, the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is a still a great walk and if distance trumps scenery then it's still worth doing. It is a loop walk but my recommendation is to start the loop by going from the left entrance rather than the right. You will be rewarded by enjoying the best scenery at the end of the walk as well as enjoying the scenery at the end facing it from its best direction.
The Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is slightly drier in terrain than the Whipstick Loop Walk. You will enjoy good tree cover for most of if not all of the walk so its a good walk to do on bright sunny days when you want a bit of tree cover.
As for grand vista's the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk probably only offers one good sweeping vista and most of the time you will enjoy nice views of trees with a reasonable amount of moisture. By that I mean it is not scrubby and dry like lots of former gold mining areas although it's still dryish.
There are a few pockets of ferns spread along the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk and these are mostly at the end if you follow my recommended route for the walk. At the end of the walk it gets quite scenic as you walk parallel to a stream and the sound of the stream adds to the enjoyment.
The Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is generally well signposted but you can take a wrong turn if you don't pay attention. There are a few up and down segments to the walk but other than being on a completely flat track this walk is pretty easy.
Location
The Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is approximately 90km from Melbourne CBD depending on whether you want to pay tolls or not. It takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to get there from Melbourne. The easiest way to get to the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk is to just enter Garden of St Erth into your GPS.
Other Things To Do
While you are at the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk why not consider:
- The Whipstick Loop Walk
- Garden of St Erth, plant nursery and cafe
- Trentham Falls
- Domino Rail Trail Walk (Trentham)
- Being a tourist in Trentham
- Taking in the high street of Blackwood
