Diamond Creek – Beer and Trees Loop
| Location | Golden Hills Brewing 25 Station St, Diamond Creek VIC 3089 Closest public transport – Diamond Creek Railway Station |
| Route | 18km circular route, 155m elevation gain Diamond Creek, Eltham, Research |
| Coffee Stop | Merika Unit 3/1425 Main Rd, Eltham VIC 3095 |
| Mary’s Rating | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (original route with accidental stairs and some single track that disappears) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🥑 (revised route that this post is based on – removing stairs and disappearing tracks) |
| GPX/Strava | Strava: https://www.strava.com/routes/3469245554336660770 GPX: https://hmkdt.id.au/GPXroutes/Diamond Creek – Golden Hills.gpx |
| Date ridden | 19 March 2026 If you have ridden these route and have any updates that need to be made, then leave a comment on this post. |
This is the first Melbourne Urban Adventure for 2026! Fitting in with the traditional style for Adelaide Bromptoneering we looked for a microbrewery that we haven’t visited before! With a little bit of of Googling we came across Golden Hills Brewery in Diamond Creek. With a bit clever bit of additional Googling we found the Diamond Creek – Research Trail – Aqueduct Trail loop ride on Melbourne Cycle Loops. We downloaded the original 10.4km loop and added an additional 8km to get to and from the Brewery.
The route starts at Golden Hills Brewery which is conveniently opposite Diamond Creek Railway Station. A short ride on relatively quiet road gets us to the Diamond Creek Trail. A pleasant and popular trail along the creek with a range of recreational and community facilities.
We turned on to Research Trail, which is a bicycle path that runs alongside a fairly busy road. It is, however, a good way to get to one of the “local delicacies” Hungarian Chimney Cakes at Merika Cafe. If it’s, hot, they have cone variant of the cake which is filled with ice cream. But today wasn’t hot – we stuck with Aromatika – cinnamon and sugar! Freshly made so allow 10 to 15 minutes. YUM! After that yummy stop we continued along Research Trail towards the trail highlight of the day – the Aqueduct Trail.
AI tells me that ‘built between 1886 and 1891, the Maroondah Aqueduct was a 66-kilometer engineering feat designed to transport water via gravity from the Watts River (Healesville) to Preston Reservoir, servicing Melbourne’s growing population. It featured concrete-lined channels, 11 tunnels, and inverted siphons, largely being replaced by the Maroondah Dam later, with sections decommissioned in the 1980s.”
If you have a spare million dollars in your pocket and you want a windmill with a bonus house – I have found the property for you. But, we got there we tried to follow a path that is marked on a map – but is little more than a wishful dirt track that disappears into grass. After the windmill was a bit of climbing and a very steep descent – it should have triggered my brain last night – because it was such a gradient that it had to be stairs right!? Anyway fear not, I’ve removed those nasty bits from the route linked from this page. If you want the extra excitement leave me a comment and I’ll send you the special route.
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food we had and the excellent beer. Highly Recommended. The revised route is shown below.
