The Best Gravel Routes Within 90 Minutes of Melbourne

By Mike · Updated 27 July 2026

Ask ten Melbourne gravel riders for their favourite loop and you get ten answers and an argument. This guide maps the argument: the five zones where the riding actually is, what each is like, and where to start based on your appetite.

A note on how to use this page: conditions on forestry and back roads change with weather, logging and season, so treat these as zones to explore with a mapping app rather than turn-by-turn gospel. Local knowledge beats any article, ours included.

Lilydale to Warburton rail trail: the front door

The classic first gravel ride, and still a great hundredth one. Around 40 km each way of car-free, gently-graded former railway, with towns and cafes strung along it. Any bike with 32 mm tyres handles it in the dry. It is also the corridor into the Yarra Valley's harder riding, so ambitious days can start easy and climb from there.

The Dandenongs and Yarra Valley: the deep end next door

The closest serious gravel to the eastern suburbs: a network of forestry roads and vineyard back roads where you can build loops from mellow to monstrous. Expect real climbing, changeable surfaces, and the occasional seasonal closure. This is where a proper gravel bike with 40 mm tyres and low gearing stops being nice and starts being necessary.

The route we point most riders toward first: start at Mount Evelyn, take the rail trail toward Wandin, then turn uphill into the forestry roads around Silvan Reservoir and climb toward Olinda before descending back. Depending on how deep into the forest you go, that builds a loop of roughly 35 to 50 km with serious climbing in the middle and an easy warm-up and warm-down on the trail. For a bigger day, the O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail above Warburton is a gem: a mostly flat contour path carved along the valley wall, reached by a stiff climb from the town, with around 30 km of shaded gravel and long views once you are up.

Macedon Ranges: the north-west epic country

Long climbs, open fast gravel and quiet farm roads around Mount Macedon, Woodend and Trentham. The riding is less enclosed than the Dandenongs, the descents run longer, and weather exposure is real in winter. Best suited to riders comfortable with 60 km-plus days.

A rewarding introduction runs out of Woodend into the Wombat State Forest toward Trentham and back through the farm roads around Tylden: expect 60 to 75 km depending on the variation, a mix of fast open gravel and forest two-track, and a bakery stop in Trentham that has ended more than one planned negative split. Check forestry closures before winter rides, because this area sees active logging.

You Yangs and Brisbane Ranges: the western option

Well-graded park loops in the You Yangs make an excellent beginner-to-intermediate day, and they drain quickly, which makes this the smart winter pick. The Brisbane Ranges beyond add remoteness and length for stronger riders.

In the You Yangs, the Great Circle Drive is the natural first lap: a well-graded gravel loop around the park of roughly 12 km that you can ride multiple times or combine with the park's other trails, all on surfaces a 35 mm tyre handles easily. Stronger riders extend west into the Brisbane Ranges via the historic gold town of Steiglitz, where the gravel gets rougher, the traffic disappears almost entirely, and carrying spare water stops being optional.

Bayside gravel-curious: starting from our door

From Cheltenham and the bayside suburbs, the honest answer is that great gravel starts with a drive or a train ride east. Plenty of locals do the classic combination: take the bike on the train to Lilydale, ride the trail to Warburton and back for a big flat day, or park at Mount Evelyn and go straight for the hills. The train trick matters more than it sounds, because it turns a gravel day into a one-way adventure with a guaranteed ride home.

Before you go

Drop your tyre pressures, carry more water than road habit suggests, and tell someone your route, because phone coverage dies quickly in the ranges. If your bike needs to be made gravel-ready first, our conversion guide and tyre guide cover the how, the gravel overview covers the what, and our pre-owned floor usually has an inspected gravel bike ready to skip the conversion entirely.