Red Hill Rail Trail

About the trail

Following part of the old Red Hill–Merricks railway line, this fenced, landscaped trail is shared by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. It can be started from either the Red Hill or Merricks end of the the trail. The trail then runs about 3 km along ridges through rolling country to Tonkins Road, with wide views across Western Port. From there it swings south of the old line for another 3 km before rejoining it north-west of Merricks Station Reserve. The track can get quite muddy in winter, so wear sturdy footwear, and as it’s popular with horse riders, slow down and give horses plenty of space when you pass.

For a little over thirty years, a railway ran through Red Hill. The line opened on 2 December 1921 to a crowd of around 600 locals, who watched a ribbon-decked engine pull in under a “Progressive Victoria” banner. For the district’s orchardists it ended the days of carting fruit by wagon along muddy tracks to Mornington, Flinders or Bittern. The station, behind today’s Blue Moon Trading Company store, helped Red Hill South grow through the 1920s, and the first Red Hill Agricultural Show was held in the coolstore beside it in 1922. But trains were slow, wagons were scarce and the service was unreliable, and as roads improved and trucks took over, the line lost its purpose. The last train ran in June 1954, barely mentioned in the papers.