Capital City Trail | |
---|---|
Length | Approx 29 km |
Location | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Difficulty | Easy |
Surface | Shared use concrete or bitumen |
Hills | Minor hill at Rushall Station |
Water | Drinking fountains every 2km approx |
Train(s) | Going clockwise: Flinders Street, Southern Cross, Flemington Bridge, Rushall and Heyington stations |
Trail map | |
The Capital City Trail is a shared use path in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, which circles the city centre and some inner eastern and northern suburbs. [1] [2] [3] It is 29km in length, and mostly consists of sections of other trails, such as the Merri Creek Trail, Main Yarra Trail, Moonee Ponds Creek Trail and Inner Circle Rail Trail. [4]
A popular starting point for the trail is at Princes Bridge near Flinders Street station. The rider can head off in an easterly or westerly direction. If heading off in the westerly, either side of the river can be used, but the south side tends to be more popular, particularly amongst walkers and runners.
The Capital City Trail uses the same path as the Main Yarra Trail up to Dights Falls, where it continues, using the same path as the Merri Creek Trail, as part of its loop around the city.
The trail follows the Yarra River to Yarra Bend Park on the Yarra River Trail and meets Merri Creek at Dights Falls. It follows the Merri Creek Trail up the Merri Creek to Rushall Station, where it follows the former Inner Circle rail reserve and Royal Park. It then meets the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail, which continues back to Docklands and Southbank. At its farthest, the trail is 5 kilometres from the centre of Melbourne.
Recently[ when? ] completed improvements to the trail include a footbridge crossing Manningham Street in Parkville (which removes a flight of stairs and a road crossing), and re-paving of the path and landscaping on the section that passes under the Hurstbridge railway line. Lobby group Bicycle Network continues to advocate for improvements to the trail, notably the removal of a staircase that interrupts the path at Gipps Street in Abbotsford.
The trail passes by the following attractions and landmarks:
The trail acts as central hub and has many spokes. Starting in the north and going clockwise there is the Upfield Rail Trail, Merri Creek Trail, Yarra River Trail, Gardiners Creek Trail, Sandridge Trail, Maribyrnong River Trail & Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail (via the Footscray Road path at Docklands) and finally the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail.
The Princes Bridge starting point is at 37°49′11″S144°58′07″E / 37.819744°S 144.968516°E .
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
Docklands, also known as Melbourne Docklands, is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. Docklands recorded a population of 15,495 at the 2021 census.
Abbotsford is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km (1.2 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Yarra local government area. Abbotsford recorded a population of 9,088 at the 2021 census.
Fitzroy North is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km (2.5 mi) north-east of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of Merri-bek and Yarra local government areas. Fitzroy North recorded a population of 12,781 at the 2021 census.
Merri railway station is a commuter railway station on the Mernda line, serving the north-eastern Melbourne suburb of Northcote in Victoria, Australia. Merri is an unstaffed status ground structure station featuring two side platforms. It opened on 8 October 1889 as Northcote before the station was given its current name Merri on 10 December 1906.
The Inner Circle Line was a steam era suburban railway line in Melbourne, Australia. It served the inner-northern suburbs of Parkville, Carlton North, Fitzroy North and Fitzroy. At its closure, it ran from Royal Park station on the Upfield line in the west to a triangular junction with Rushall and Merri stations on today's Mernda line in the east. There was also a branch line to Fitzroy that opened at the same time.
The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins near Wallan and flows south for 70 km until joining the Yarra River at Dights Falls. The area where the creek meets the river was traditionally the location for large gatherings of the Wurundjeri people and is suspected to have been the location for one of the earliest land treaties in Australia between Indigenous Australians and European settlers.
The Upfield Shared Path is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Upfield railway line through the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Brunswick East is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek local government area. Brunswick East recorded a population of 13,279 at the 2021 census.
The Moonee Ponds Creek is a creek and major tributary of the Yarra River running through urban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from northern to inner suburbs. In 2004 a reporter for The Age described it as "arguably the most abused tributary of the Yarra River, and part of the true underside of Melbourne".
The Moonee Ponds Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Moonee Ponds Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Maribyrnong River Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Maribyrnong River through the north western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Merri Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians that follows the Merri Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the coast line of Hobsons Bay in the inner western suburbs in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The trail forms part of the western half of the Bayside Trail which encircles Port Phillip. It runs from the west side of the Westgate bridge, south and along the coast, finishing at the Skeleton Creek Trail in Sanctuary Lakes.
The M80 Trail is a shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians that bridges the northern suburbs and follows the Western Ring Road/Metropolitan Ring Road (M80) freeway in Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne West Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1904 until 2006.
The Main Yarra Trail, also known as the Yarra Trail is a shared-use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Yarra River through the northeastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Yarra River is a river in East-Central Victoria, Australia that flows through the city of Melbourne. This article contains explanations and lists of the river's tributaries and other geographic features. The river flows atop layers of silt that built up within an ancient river valley around 10,000-15,000 years ago.
East Bourke Boroughs was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1904.
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