page_title: East Gippsland Rail Trail
section_title: Nowa Nowa to Orbost (38km)
hierarchical_section_title: East Gippsland Rail Trail / Route description / Nowa Nowa to Orbost (38km)
caption_attribution_description: East Gippsland Rail Trail, at a rest stop between Orbost and Nowa Nowa.
context_page_description: The East Gippsland Rail Trail is a rail trail located in East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The trail is a popular cycling route, beginning in Bairnsdale and extending to Orbost, following the route of the former Orbost railway line. The Bairnsdale-Orbost railway was opened in 1916 to serve the agricultural and timber industry, and required numerous substantial bridges because of the nature of the terrain. Due to the decline in traffic and heavy operating costs, the line was finally closed in August 1987 and the track infrastructure removed in 1994. The shared trail is also available for walkers and recreational horseriding, however motorised vehicles are prohibited.
  The trail is 96 kilometres long and passes through a variety of forest and farmland landscapes with occasional views of the Gippsland Lakes. Parts of the trail are accessible to any bicycle, but significant sections are suitable only for mountain bikes or sturdy hybrid bikes.
context_section_description: The 36 km Nowa Nowa to Newmerella section was the last section of the track to open, being constructed in 2005 at a cost of $660,000 and opening in January 2006, with a further 2 km of shared pathway taking the trail into Orbost.
  The track leaves Nowa Nowa after crossing the bridge over Boggy Creek and soon rejoins the railway line formation. The former Nowa Nowa railway station is just north of the realigned rail trail, with the station site itself now used as an emergency helicopter landing place. Not far from town the track descends to a creek level crossing over Ironstone Creek, bypassing the first and smallest of three wooden trestle bridges in this section. Following this the track steadily climbs over several kilometres on a rough loose gravel surface through a gradually drier environment largely composed of banksia and eucalypt vegetation, and areas of open farmland, then descends towards Wairewa Road about 9 km from Nowa Nowa. The original rail line crossed this spot on a spectacular curved timber trestle bridge, the largest of the three on this part of the route. While the bridge remains, the trail again bypasses it due to the costs that would be involved in making and keeping the bridge safe, descending down and across Wairewa Road, then climbing back up to the level of the railway.
  Beyond this point the trail heads back towards the Princes Highway and then runs close to it for several kilometres. Near Johnsons Road the trail passes the unmarked site of the former Tostaree railway station and travels just north of the small locality of Tostaree, and then drops down to another low level creek crossing over Hospital Creek, bypassing the third of the former railway trestle bridges. The track climbs again and soon diverges from the highway, then travels through light forest and occasional farmland on a quite wide but rough surface, before reaching Partellis Crossing Road at about the midpoint of this section of the trail. There is a picnic table, seats, and toilet facilities at this location, however no water is available.
  Continuing on from Partellis Crossing the trail continues for several kilometres through mixed forest and farmland, and then past the former timber mill site of Waygara. Native vegetation is reclaiming this site but some signs of the former mill are visible such as a shed, an incinerator stack, and former mill houses. The former Waygara railway station was also in this location, however little sign remains of it. The trail again starts heading back towards the highway and soon crosses Simpsons Creek and then Simpsons Creek Rd through more forested areas which preserve a significant amount of biological diversity from early and pre-European settlement times. 
  Another 3 km on is the first crossing of Joiners Rd, and from this point to Newmerella - about 5 km distance - the trail travels very closely to the Princes Highway with increasing signs of development such as timber mill operations and a pumping station for the underground gas pipeline. The trail crosses Prestons Road, which provides access to the small town of Newmerella, while the trail itself continues for another couple of kilometres, doglegging through a cutting around a steep hillside, then providing views over the Snowy River floodplain before descending to the end of the trail at Burn Rd, north of the Princes Highway at Newmerella. 
  Across the road from the end of the rail trail is an off-road shared pathway which was constructed in 2007/08 and which leads into Orbost, about another 2 km further on. The original Orbost terminus of the line was on the west bank of the Snowy River, with the train never actually crossing the river into Orbost itself. The shared pathway travels near this station site, but little remains of it. There is however an impressive low level causeway over the river flats consisting of a series of timber and steel bridges called the Orbost Viaduct, which shows the original route of the railway, however there are no plans to reopen this as part of the rail trail.
caption: Typical scenery between Nowa Nowa and Orbost.
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