Plotting a path through our iconic Crater Lakes

City of Mount Gambier creating a trails blueprint

City of Mount Gambier is seeking community input to develop a Crater Lakes Trails Plan. Council engaged Open Trails Australia to develop a Trails Plan for the Crater Lakes peri-urban Park (the Park). The Park is a unique site that serves a diverse variety of social, cultural, environmental and economic roles for the community and contributes significantly to the lifestyle of Mount Gambier residents and visitors.

As part of the Crater Lakes Activation Plan project, a broad trails audit was undertaken in 2022 and Council plans to expand on this work to create a Trails Plan to guide the sustainable provision, management, and maintenance of the Park’s trails network.

City of Mount Gambier strategic development and recreation coordinator Hayley Rowe said council’s vision for the Parks Trails network was to provide a sustainable and high quality network of trails which enhance and complement the immersive nature of the Park, while also improving access and celebrating its unique qualities.

“The trails are currently used by a variety of groups including walkers, runners and mountain bike enthusiasts and we’d like to explore how the trail network could function more efficiently to benefit all users,” Ms Rowe said.

The Trails Plan will provide council with a rationalised and detailed framework that is based on findings gained through a gap analysis, community consultation and key considerations such as culture and accessibility.

The development of the Trails Plan will also include signage, maintenance, compliance, safety/ risk and governance requirements. A map of the current Trails Network is available to download at Have Your Say Mount Gambier.

“We are inviting our community and visitors to contribute to the development of the Trails Plan through an online survey, by adding pins and comments to the trails network map and by coming along to community engagement sessions,” Ms Rowe said.

CREATING A PLAN: Mount Gambier History Group representative Jeanette Aslin and Mount Gambier Mountain Bike Community members Shane DeJong and Peter Wheeler on the Mountain Trail at the Crater Lakes