Best Running Routes in Bendigo 2026

Bendigo's running routes trace the city's goldrush history directly, from a park landscaped over reclaimed 1850s diggings to a rail trail built on a former mining-era line. Here are the best running routes in Bendigo for 2026.

Lake Weeroona and the Bendigo Creek Trail

Lake Weeroona, in North Bendigo, offers a flat, shaded loop of about 1.4 kilometres, extendable to 2.4 kilometres, popular as a pre-work or before-school loop with waterbirds and picnic areas. It connects directly into the Bendigo Creek Trail, a sealed shared path running roughly 11 kilometres one way from Rosalind Park through the CBD past the Golden Dragon Museum, Lake Weeroona, White Hills Cemetery and Bendigo Botanic Gardens, ending near Bendigo Pottery in Epsom.

Rosalind Park

Rosalind Park, a compact 0.8 kilometre loop in the CBD, sits on Victorian gardens established in the 1860s over the old Bendigo Creek diggings, with the Conservatory Gardens, a fernery and the Poppet Head lookout, a short scenic loop favoured for lunchtime runs by CBD workers.

Kennington Reservoir and Strathdale Park

Kennington Reservoir offers about 3.9 kilometres of easy, unsealed bush track around the water, taking roughly 50 minutes, popular for bushwalking, birdlife and fishing, with the northern track linking to the Grassy Flat Creek Trail and Strathdale Park sports precinct for a bush-trail option distinct from the CBD's paved paths.

The O'Keefe Rail Trail

The O'Keefe Rail Trail runs a full 49 kilometres from Bendigo to Heathcote via Axedale, flat and mostly gravel on a former railway corridor through box-ironbark forest and farmland, crossing Lake Eppalock on a causeway. Runners typically use shorter out-and-back segments, and the trail hosts the annual O'Keefe Challenge marathon, half marathon, 10 kilometre and 5 kilometre event.

Running the Bendigo Gift Route

The Bendigo Gift, a historic professional sprint handicap race first run in March 1947 as the Bendigo City One Thousand Gift, is now held at the Tom Flood Sports Centre track on Barnard Street, a real piece of the city's athletics history alongside its goldrush-era running routes.

Practical Guide to Running in Bendigo

Lake Weeroona and the Bendigo Creek Trail are the most reliable choices for a flat run of any length; the O'Keefe Rail Trail is worth the trip for anyone wanting genuine long-distance training.

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