The 13.3 km Kuruc-a-ruc Trail connects three goldfield towns; the local golf club lets casual players enjoy a round, and Rokewood Lagoon adds seasonal swimming to the mix. This combination gives a trip to Rokewood several distinct focuses: exploring a historic goldfields landscape, golf, swimming at a particular time of year, and local history. If you’re looking for a holiday rental in Rokewood, you can weigh up your travel dates and interests together; for swimming in particular, the season is an important difference from the other activities.
Trail through the goldfields landscape
The Kuruc-a-ruc Trail is 13.3 km long, unsealed, and runs through a historic goldfields landscape. It connects Dereel, Corindhap and Rokewood and is suitable for walkers, horse riders and cyclists of all ability levels. The route brings together three ways to explore along the same trail; its length is a useful guide when planning the trail as a focus of your stay. The fact that it connects three goldfield towns adds a geographical link to goldfields history to the experience of getting outdoors.
Gold rush history and the townscape
Rokewood developed during the gold rush years into a civic and commercial centre serving mining communities and the surrounding pastoral properties. Its history brings together gold mining and pastoralism, rather than reducing the town’s development to gold prospecting alone. The Rokewood Precinct is also covered by a Heritage Overlay.
Rokewood Presbyterian Church is an example of rural church architecture in the Gothic Revival style. St Patrick's Catholic Church is at the northeastern corner of Rokewood Skipton Road (Ferrer or Ferrar's Road) and Colac-Ballarat Road, immediately west of Kuruc-a-ruc Creek and the township of Rokewood. Together, these two places offer different ways to explore local history: a 19th-century architectural style and a precise point of reference in the surrounding area.
Cemetery and plant life
Rokewood Cemetery is 1.6 km northwest of the township. It contains a good example of Plains Grassland with Feather-heads, Billy Buttons and Sundews. For the Golden Plains Shire, the cemetery is of historical, social, architectural and scientific, botanical significance. The cemetery setting thus complements the town’s built heritage with a distinct natural history element. If you’d like to look beyond the gold rush era, you’ll find a different focus here from the trail and churches.
Seasonal swimming and golf
Rokewood Lagoon, which is community-run, offers family-friendly swimming. It operates seasonally, depending on maintenance and water availability. The swimming season normally begins around the third week of December and ends the following March. Check the current season details before your trip.
Rokewood Golf Club has been part of the local community for almost a century. It is an inclusive and welcoming club for people of all ages and abilities. Anyone can become a member or drop by to play golf; check with the club about arrangements before you arrive. Golf therefore depends on making arrangements with the club, while a visit to the Lagoon is tied to its seasonal operating period.
Discover more destinations: Wongarra, Anakie, King Valley, Beaufort, Campbellfield, Rowville, Leongatha South, Broadford.
For the broader travel overview: Victoria.
