About the Walking Route

Craigburn Farms Shared Trails are a trail network in Sturt Gorge Recreation Park. As with the Recreation Park, most of the marked trails are one-way/return trails, not loop trails. We’ve outlined a 5.8km walking loop, following several one-way trails, to make a circuit hike:

• the Lake View Trail (marked in dark blue),
• the Little River Trail (marked in light blue),
• then the River Trail (marked in mid/dark blue),
• up the gully on the Magpie Creek Trails,
• then into the Mitcham Trail Network (Zone 4 – Blackwood Hill Reserve), following:
• The Blackwood Hill Fire Track (either direction works)
• Woodlands Link (for a short distance),
• Craigburn Road (a closed road),
• and a short distance along the Walk the Dog trail.

You can also look at our 8.5km walking loop, or combine the two into a single 10.7km loop.

The shared-use trails are for walkers, mountain bikers and horse riders. Walkers and mountain bikers should give way to horses, and mountain bikers should give way to walkers.

The easiest place to start the hike is near the end of Bonython Way, Craigburn Farm, near house #56 because car parking here is easy. You can also start from the main Craigburn Farms Shared Trails trailhead (start at step 15 of the walk directions below.)

You can also reach this hike by:

• Bus, via Stop 35B Grand Boulevard, Craigburn Farm, which is 1km east of the trailhead
• Train, via Coromandel Railway Station, which is north east of the trailhead. It’s a 800m walk to the start of the City of Mitcham’s Trevor Traverse trail (off Trevor Terrace), which you can follow for about 1km to join the loop on Woodlands Link, Craigburn Road or the main Craigburn Farms Shared Trails trailhead (start at step 15 of the walk directions below.)

Walking loop directions, starting at the trailhead on Bonython Way, Craigburn Farm (it’s easy to park here), and walking clockwise:

1. Follow Lake View trail
2. At end of dam wall, turn right onto Little River trail
3. Keep left, following River Trail
4. Keep left, following River Trail
5. Turn right, following River Trail
6. Turn left, following River Trail
7. Turn right, BUT follow left fork trail, following River Trail
8. Turn left, following River Trail and Magpie Creek Trails (there are several parallel trails that make up the Magpie Creek Trails, just make sure you are walking up the gully, not down the gully towards Sturt Gorge)
9. Turn right, following River Trail and Magpie Creek Trails
10. Near stone ruins, turn right, following Magpie Creek Trails
11. On fire tracks, as you now enter the Mitcham Trail Network (Zone 4 Blackwood Hill Reserve trails), turn left following left hand fire track
12. At fire tracks fork, keep right, heading towards Road Closed sign
13. Past Road Closed sign stay on fire track as it turns to the right and south
14. As fire track turns right, turn left on walking trail (at any point now move over to walking on Craigburn Road – which is closed to vehicle traffic)
15. Turn right off Craigburn Road, walking past main Craigburn Farms Shared Trails trailhead (a good place to start if you are using bus or train to get here)
16. Walk along the Walk the Dog trail, but keep left close to the road
17. You are now close back to where you started