Route: Three Creeks Trail Loop

This route combines three major trails in Melbourne to a single loop.

• Koonung Creek Trail
• Mullum Mullum Creek Trail
• Main Yarra Trail

Overview

Altogether the combined loop is 44km long and has about 500m of elevation in it which is mostly in the south-eastern corner of the loop. As with many suburban trails, this is fairly well sign-posted and easy to follow. The main pitfall is finding the turn-off from Koonung to Mullum Mullum at the very south-eastern tip, if going counter clockwise. The whole loop is also sometimes referred to as the Mullum Mullum Trail although that is only the eastern section and with 10km also the shortest trail of the loop.

The trail-surface is flat and a mixture of concrete, asphalt and gravel while the vast majority of the gravel can be found on the Main Yarra Trail section. There are also no stairs on the whole loop.

Route Description (Counter Clockwise starting at Burke Rd)

From the start simply follow the Koonung Creek Trail which itself follows the Eastern Freeway on the southern side. After about 8 km it's time to cross the Freeway over the bridge at Eram Park. At the 15 km mark comes the next turn off where you leave the first trail behind and enter Mullum Mullum Creek Trail. This turn is very easy to miss! From there on you'll cruise along the creek which eventually flows into the Yarra while the trail continues without missing a beat. 

The Three Creeks Trail is a fairly recent addition to bushland trails or loops since the eastern part got only completed in 2018: https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsroom/2018/09/13/mullum-mullum-trail-now-completed/

However the Victorian Ultra Running community has taken it up since it is a very nice and green bushland trail - without the need to drive far out of the city. For a lot of people it also provides an easy opportunity to run a  50 km ultra from their doorsteps which isn't slogging along roads at all.