The January 2026 bushfires in the Upper Murray tore through large sections of the High Country Rail Trail, destroying 14 of the 16 remaining historic timber trestle bridges and causing damage to the vegetation adjacent to the trail.
Thank you to the DEECA Forest Fires team for their efforts removing hazardous trees along the trail over the past few weeks.
We are working on creating short videos for each of the bridges that will be accessible by QR code at the bridge locations. In the meantime, we need hands on the ground to help repair and replace some of the 35 km of fences that were damaged – so roll up your sleeves and let’s get the trail re-opened! See below for links to the working bees.
Thank you to the Tallangatta Rail Trail Advisory Group who are in the process of installing low level bridges (boardwalks) as interim crossings at the two trestle bridges that burnt in Koetong and Darbyshire.
Over the next few weeks, we plan to finish this work along the Koetong section so that the Shelley to Darbyshire Hill (top of the big climb) section can be re-opened by Easter. There is plenty more to do in Bullioh when the weather cools and funds for fences and other works are secured.
Donations towards getting the rail trail re-opened are most welcome as Parklands Albury Wodonga is currently self-funding these recovery efforts.
You can find the link to our Give Now Naturally Resourceful Appeal here.
You can click through to the working bee events via the following links. Here you will find all the information (where, when, what to bring etc.) and also how to register. Registration is essential so that we can provide the correct amount of tools.
