Scotchmans Creek Trail

The Scotchmans Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows Scotchmans Creek through the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.^[1][2][3]

It runs from East Malvern railway station through to Jells Park although several sections consist of normal residential streets. The trail provides good access to Chadstone Shopping Centre and Holmesglen Institute of TAFE for the local community. The Valley Reserve in Mount Waverley, that the trail runs through, is acknowledged as being one of the last remaining stands of indigenous vegetation in the local area.

Although Scotchmans Creek Trail is widely recognized as ending in the west at East Malvern Railway Station,^[4][5] some sources ^[6] have the trail's west end at Warrigal Rd.

Signage is confusing as two separate routes are signed. One via Scotchmans Creek and the other via the Pinewood Shopping Centre. Strangely, both routes are signed as the Scotchmans Creek Trail and no indication is given, as to which is the one to make use of or why.

Following the Path

The trail begins in the west at East Malvern Railway Station where it runs alongside the Monash Freeway until it meets Warrigal Road. An overpass takes it to Scotchmans Creek where it continues along the Scotchmans Creek Linear Reserve until it reaches Park Rd. It passes to the north of the Oakleigh Recreation Centre and onwards to Huntingdale Rd where pedestrian lights allow safe crossing. Past the Huntingdale Wetlands it crosses Stanley Ave (and crosses to the north bank of Scotchmans Creek) before going through a tunnel under the Monash Freeway and then under Stephensons Rd. After crossing Forster Rd the path continues to Waverley Rd near Anthony Drive. Previously identified as a "missing link", this section was opened in October 2013,^[7] and may be prone to flooding. The alternate route is via Rhonda St and Anthony Drv (see map of the route to take). At Anthony Drv, the trail crosses Waverley road at the east end of traffic island, and continues north-eastward. There is a sign-posted turn off leading to Valley Reserve. The shared use path crosses Blackburn Rd via a footbridge. and finally ends at Waverley Rd near the Homesglen Institute of TAFE, with most of the remaining journey to Jells Park being on residential streets.

After crossing Waverley Rd, turn down Ivanhoe St and follow the path East to Winmalee Dr turn down Koonalda Ave and cross over Springvale Rd at the pedestrian lights (see map of the route to take). A road section at Whites Lane leads to a tennis club. Leave the road for the path at this point. The turn off is very easy to miss. The path continues to Belvedere Ave, Mackintosh Rd and Lum Rd.

There are two options after Lum Rd - either go down Strickland Dr and Clarke Ct or Tom Begg Ct. The trail is steep here as it descends into the Dandenong Valley. A short lane way at the end of each court leads to Sunnybrook Drv. The final section of the path continues to Jells Park (see map of the route to take).

Map of the trail

Connections

• Scotchmans Creek Trail connects at the west end to Gardiners Creek Trail and Outer Circle Trail and East Malvern Station to Centre Rd Trail.
• The Waverley Rail Trail can be reached via Argyll St (1 km). At Waverley Rd pass under the highway using the path that leads to Golfers Drv. Heading towards the public golf course, the path resumes on the right. Descending down the path then leads to Argyll St. Travel east to the far end of Argyll St. At Holmesglen railway station use the pedestrian bridge to cross Warrigal Road arriving at the Waverley Rail Trail.
• At the east end at Jells Park it links to the Dandenong Creek Trail. The Blind Creek Trail also terminates near the north end of Jells Park.
• A short road section (Blackburn Rd, Falconer St & Flander Ave) leads to Syndal station. On the north side of the station, in Shirley Ave, is the southern end of the Syndal Heatherdale Pipe Reserve Trail.

Note the footbridge over the Monash Freeway was reopened on 20 August 2009.^[8]

West end at 37°52′22″S 145°04′08″E / 37.872810°S 145.068955°E / -37.872810; 145.068955. East end at 37°54′06″S 145°12′05″E / 37.901598°S 145.201331°E / -37.901598; 145.201331.

References

• Bike rides around Melbourne 3rd edition, 2009, Julia Blunden, Open Spaces Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9752333-4-4
• Bike Paths Victoria sixth edition, 2004. Edited and published by Sabey & Associates Pty Ltd. pp130. ISBN 0-9579591-1-7

External links

• Bicycle Victoria description of how to navigate the Glen Waverley missing link
• Monash Council map
• Monash Council web site
• Friends of Scotchmans Creek and Valley Reserve
• Geographic data related to Scotchmans Creek Trail at OpenStreetMap