Why this ride
409 km one way from Diamond Creek - plan on about 6 h 51 of riding. On the way it passes Romsey, near Bacchus Marsh, Saint Leonards and Hampton. in Narre Warren is the high point. Long stretches are under trees.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Grampians Mountain Sweep · short arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 409 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 51
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Diamond Creek
Diamond Creek is a leafy outer suburb in Nillumbik, north-east of Melbourne, where the city begins to dissolve into hills, bush and small farms. The creek itself runs through the town, and the area has a long association with goldmining, artists and people seeking a bit of space. Neighbouring Eltham is known for its mud-brick houses and the Montsalvat artists' colony.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Diamond Creek write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grampians Mountain Sweep is where the day begins. Next is Melbourne / Victoria return.
2. Near Romsey, on the way back
The Macedon Ranges rise abruptly from the plains north-west of Melbourne, a cluster of old volcanic hills covered in forests, gardens and farmland, and this stop is on their north-eastern side, near the small town of Romsey. Just to the west stands Hanging Rock, a jagged volcanic formation made famous by Joan Lindsay's novel Picnic at Hanging Rock and Peter Weir's 1975 film, about a group of schoolgirls who vanish during a picnic on Valentine's Day in 1900. The story is fiction, but the rock has an eerie atmosphere, and the walk to the top is worth it.
Read the complete Near Romsey, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Melbourne / Victoria return comes up about 78 km into the recorded legs. Next is Food stop near Bacchus Marsh.
3. Food stop near Bacchus Marsh
Coming into Bacchus Marsh from the east, you ride through an arch of tall elms: the Avenue of Honour, planted after the First World War with a tree for each local man who enlisted. It is a moving entrance to a town that sits in a deep, fertile bowl where the Werribee and Lerderderg rivers meet, ringed by dry hills. The flats along the rivers have been orchards and market gardens since the nineteenth century, and roadside stalls still sell apples, pears and vegetables straight from the farms.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Bacchus Marsh write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Grampians Mountain Sweep photo pull-off.
4. Saint Leonards
Matthew Flinders, mapping Port Phillip in 1802, came ashore near Indented Head, a few kilometres up the coast from here, and climbed the hills to look over the bay. St Leonards is a quiet seaside town at the eastern tip of the Bellarine Peninsula, with a long pier, a sheltered beach and views across the water to the Mornington Peninsula and the distant towers of Melbourne.
Read the complete Near Saint Leonards write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Grampians Mountain Sweep photo pull-off, about halfway. Next is Grampians Mountain Sweep checkpoint 8.
5. Near Hampton
Port Phillip Bay is so large that from its northern shore you cannot see the other side, and the stop is right on that shore, along the beaches between Elwood and Brighton, a few kilometres south of Melbourne's centre. As a base for setting out and coming home it works well: the city is close, but the bay gives a sense of space, and on a summer evening, with the light going gold over the water and people swimming and walking their dogs along the sand, it is hard to feel stressed.
Read the complete Near Hampton write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Grampians Mountain Sweep checkpoint 8. That is the ride. Next is High point in Narre Warren.
6. High point in Narre Warren
Narre Warren is a big suburban hub in Melbourne's south-east, but look north and the land begins to lift. Narre Warren North and the Harkaway hills rise behind the town, a rolling patchwork of paddocks, horse properties and pockets of bush that climbs towards Lysterfield and the southern foot of the Dandenong Ranges.
Read the complete High point in Narre Warren write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
High point in Narre Warren is the summit of this stretch. Next is Scenic stretch near Bayswater North.
7. Scenic stretch near Bayswater North
Bayswater North sits at the very foot of the Dandenong Ranges, on the eastern rim of Melbourne's suburbs. The streets are quiet and leafy, and from many of them you can see the dark blue wall of the ranges rising just beyond, with Mount Dandenong and its towers on top. Dandenong Creek meanders through parkland on the western side, and the EastLink tollway carves a wide corridor nearby.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Bayswater North write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Bayswater North closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Diamond Creek to Near Romsey, on the way back
Fuel stop near Diamond Creek → Near Romsey, on the way back is 78 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Bacchus Marsh to Saint Leonards
Food stop near Bacchus Marsh → Saint Leonards is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
High point in Narre Warren to Scenic stretch near Bayswater North
High point in Narre Warren → Scenic stretch near Bayswater North is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.