Activating the Great Southern Rail Trail
21/07/2026There’s more to do and to see along the Great Southern Rail Trail as it passes through Koonwarra – including new art installations, eye-catching interpretive signage and an annual running festival.
Supported by $100,000 from our Council Support Package, these additions to the trail will help to draw more visitors to the region, boosting local businesses and strengthening the trail’s reputation as a major tourism drawcard.
In Koonwarra, visitors can now enjoy Outside In, a sculptural listening space inspired by the local and endangered Strzelecki Gum. There is also new Black Spur signage celebrating local flora, fauna and biodiversity.
The investment has also created an interactive, passport-style brochure which encourages visitors to have their ‘passport’ stamped at one of the 16 towns along the trail – from Nyora to Yarram.
To support this travel experience, local men’s and women’s sheds have developed special train carriage-shaped mailboxes for each of the towns along the path, reflecting the history of the trail.
Funding has already helped establish the annual Southern Trail Running Festival, with the Government-funded 2025 inaugural event drawing more than 400 participants to race up to 100 kilometres along the trail.
South Gippsland’s visitor economy is continuing to grow, with visitor spend up 22 per cent from 2022 to 2025, with attractions like the trail helping to drive that growth.
This latest funding for the Great Southern Rail Trail is part of more than $12 million the Victorian Government has invested in the project, across six development stages.
Development of the trail has also been supported with $3 million from the Australian Government and $1 million from South Gippsland Shire Council.
Our investments in Gippsland are part of our commitment to make Victoria’s regions even better places to live, work, stay, experience, invest and study.