• Shared Trails: are designed for multiple user groups, accommodating activities such as walking, jogging, cycling, and even horse riding. These trails are inclusive and intended for a diverse range of recreational purposes.
• Walking trails: are dedicated paths primarily designed for pedestrians. These trails offer a peaceful and scenic environment, encouraging individuals to engage in walking for exercise, relaxation, or nature appreciation.
• Footpaths: are typically urban or suburban pathways designed for pedestrians. They are commonly found in residential areas, parks, and urban landscapes. Footpaths are essential for promoting safe and convenient walking within communities, connecting residential areas to amenities like schools, parks, and public spaces.
• Mountain bike trails: are specifically designed for off-road cycling, typically in natural or wooded areas.
• Equestrian Trails: range from purpose-built trails, such as Lilydale Warburton Rail Trail, designed to accommodate equestrians to more informal roadside trails and verges.

Yarra Ranges has an extensive network of 866 kilometres of paths and trails, including 661km of footpaths and 205km of recreational trails used for activities like hiking, cycling, and horse-riding.
This proposed plan looks at enhancing this network by creating connections with existing paths/ trails to provide more accessibility and increase options for people to move around our region.

No- our team continue to seek funding opportunities to complete projects across the region.
Knowing what residents and visitors want helps us to advocate for additional support to make things happen.

Thanks for your suggestion! While our team can't respond to each individual request, we will consider all submissions against our criteria. Where appropriate additional paths/ upgrades will be added into the plan

Our team use the following criteria to prioritise works:

• Improve access to regional open space and community facilities
• Improve access to natural landscapes
• Enable active trips long enough to generate user health benefits
• Improves access to train station or bus stops
• Improves network connectivity
• Connecting town centres/ activity centres/ industrial precincts
• Improves access to primary/ secondary/ tertiary education
• Improves access to cultural heritage
• Provides service to disadvantaged residents
• Inclusive of all abilities
• Size of population catchment within 1km of path
• Generates visitors from outside the municipality

Yes; this project has been going longer than expected, and we are keen to see this plan eventuate.

We have heard from around 2,500 residents and visitors over the last five years, and messages remain consistent.

This Draft Plan addresses these themes.