| Gardiners Creek and Trail in Gardiners Reserve, Burwood | |
| Gardiners Creek Trail | |
| Length | Approx 17 km |
| Difficulty | Mostly easy |
| Hills | Mostly flat |
| Hazards | Can be very crowded |
| Path | Bitumen |
| Connecting Transport | |
| Train | Kooyong, East Malvern and Blackburn Stations |
The Gardiners Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Gardiners Creek through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.[1][2][3][4]
Bicycle Victoria is campaigning for a connection between Winton Road and Warrigal Road, to complete the gap in the trail at this point. It is proposed that the path would continue along the creek parallel to the Malvern Public Golf Course, spanning the gap from Winton Road to Warrigal Road. The Solway Street footbridge would be replaced at a point 10 m further to the east from the original.
The length of the gap was exacerbated for over a year, following the closure of the Solway Street footbridge due to storm damage, sometime before April 2006. The old bridge was shored up and reopened in June 2007. A replacement bridge has been under discussion since at least 2003.[5][6][7] As of April 2008 it remains under discussion.[8][9][10]
The path begins as a branch of the Main Yarra Trail, opposite St Kevin's College and Scotch College, close to Kooyong railway station (on the Glen Waverley line); between the suburbs of Toorak, Hawthorn, and Kooyong. The path snakes along Gardiners Creek, near the Monash Freeway. Its also goes past Solway Primary School.
Near East Malvern railway station it crosses Winton Road. At this point, riders can continue straight ahead to East Malvern railway station to pick up the Scotchmans Creek Trail and East Malvern Station to Centre Road Trail.
Heading down the detour route of Winton Road, Glen Road and Solway Street, since the Solway Street Bridge was washed away by flood waters in February 2011, and travel up Ryburne Road. The very southern end of the Anniversary Trail appears on the left near the end of Ryburne Rd. Using the Anniversary Trail continue to Alamein station. At that point another trails splits of and continues via Markham Reserve to Warrigal Road. An underpass of Warrigal Road, completed in August 2011, now allows easy access to the path on the east side of Warrigal Road, at the south side of the creek.
The path continues northeast through Ashwood Reserve to High Street Road, and then north (near Ashwood College) through Gardiners Reserve to Highbury Road. Across a nearby pedestrian crossing, the path continues north to the south of the intersection of McIntyre Street, Elgar Road, and Burwood Highway (near Presbyterian Ladies' College).
From Burwood Highway (near the Burwood Campus of Deakin University, east of Elgar Road), the path continues to the north-east along Gardiners Creek to Station Street, near the Box Hill Golf Club.
Once at Station Street cross the new pedestrian crossing installed in 2007/2008. At Station Street one has the choice of continuing along the Gardiners Creek Trail or diverting to the Wurundjeri Walk Trail.
Go left (north) up Old Station Street, passing immediately by the golf club entrance. Turn right at the very quiet and dead end part of Riversdale Road. The trail resumes at the end of Riversdale Road.
Turning right after the pedestrian crossing leads to Boardman Close. The far end of the close leads to the Wurundjeri Walk Trail. The trail signs in the vicinity of the pedestrian crossing are non existent and to avoid getting lost, great care needs to be taken:
The Gardiners Creek Trail continues north east, via a path on the north side of the Box Hill Golf Course, to the intersection of Canterbury and Middleborough Roads in Box Hill South. It follows Middleborough Road through R.H.L. Sparks Reserve to Albion Road, the path continues east along Blacks Walk reserve and the Blackburn Creeklands reserve to Blackburn Road.
Cross Blackburn Road and use either Alandale Road or Jeffrey Street to enter Blackburn Lake Sanctuary. North of here is the Blackburn Station and Blackburn shopping centre.
The bridge was washed away by flood waters very early in the morning of 5 February 2011, after heavy rain resulting from the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Yasi, rendering the bridge impassable. Use Winton Road and Glen Road as an alternative to reach the Anniversary Trail.
During the later half of 2011 the bridge was replaced and was opened to the Public unofficially on the 22nd December 2011.
The westernmost end of the trail meets the Capital City Trail/Yarra River Trail at the Yarra River. Centrally it connects with the Anniversary Trail, which runs along the Alamein railway line and to the nearby Scotchmans Creek Trail and East Malvern Station to Centre Road Trail at East Malvern railway station. At Warrigal Road it connects to the Waverley Rail Trail. Towards the eastern most end it meets the Wurundjeri Walk Trail in Blackburn South, and finally ends at Blacks Walk in Blackburn and Blackburn Lake Sanctuary.
The Ferndale Park Trail acts as a short cut to the Anniversary Trail.
Note the footbridge over the Monash Freeway was reopened on the 20th August 2009. [11]
West end at . East end at .
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