The city of Shepparton and the town of Mooroopna border the Goulburn River. Shepparton to the east and Mooroopna to the west. They are connected by a four lane road called the Peter Ross Edwards Causeway. The bushland on either side of the causeway is known as The Flats. The area known as The Flats became home to many indigenous after the Walk Off from Cummeragunja at Barmah on 4 February 1939. You can read more about this event at
www.riverconnect.com.au/education/theflats
This area and the area around the Goulburn River has many great bike/walking paths and trails. You can in fact ride over 12 kilometres on sealed bitumen paths without crossing a single road, which makes it extremely safe esp for kids. (Start at The Boulevard and Howitt Road and ride all the way to Archer Street near Broken River Drive, or vice versa.
During Covid-19 I discovered a 16 kilometre mountain bike circuit in the bush between Shepparton and Mooroopna. I had never heard of it and it certainly doesn't rate a mention in any of the city's tourist attractions. It really is a hidden gem. There are lots of locals who know about it and I presume some of them built and maintain the track but unless you discover it by chance like I did or someone tells you about it, you wouldn't know it's there. And yes, Shepparton is pretty flat but this is a challenging course nonetheless, going up and down creek beds, through bush and trees where the track is not much wider than your bike and up and down a levee bank built to stop flooding. My record around the 16k circuit is just over an hour and I'm 50!
So due to discovering this hidden gem I have decided to place a series of caches in the area, some are quite close to the bike trail, some a bit of a walk/ride. In dry weather the area can be accessed by 2WD.
Cache: 600ml screw top container containing logbook, pencil and a few swaps.
Good luck and enjoy the beautiful bushland.