The Goldfields Track used to be known as the Great Dividing Trail. It was created by the Great Dividing Trail Association (GDTA) in the early 1990s, following a dream of the GDTA’s first President, Barry Golding to create a trail that followed the creeks, gullies and ridges of the Great Divide. The GDTA, all volunteers, did an extraordinary job, to work with the land managers to create the Great Dividing Trail. It (almost) followed the Goldfields Track route from Ballarat to Bendigo that we have today, and includes another arm, linking Daylesford to Bacchus Marsh – the Lerderderg Track.
In 2009, Goldfields Tourism Incorporated secured a significant Federal Tourism Development Grant and worked with the GDTA, local councils en-route, and the land managers to upgrade the track to the shared use bushwalking and mountain biking track you see today. The upgrade included a new name, lots of new infrastructure – signage, bridges, steps and works to make the track safe for shared use, and a website.
The GDTA is still active in their use and support of the track, providing invaluable maintenance assistance at the track’s southern end, part of the Goldfields Track Development Project Committee and of course enjoying the track and encouraging others to do the same.
So if you sometimes see the term “Great Dividing Trail” you’ll know why.