Could rail trails pave the way to a booming visitor economy in the Riverina and Snowy Valleys?

According to Wagga long-distance walker, Leigh Swansborough, the Riverina and Snowy Valleys could become a world-class tourist destination for walkers and cyclists.

Leigh has recently trekked from Wagga and Tumbarumba along the disused rail corridor and said more investment in opening up the rail trails could reinvigorate struggling villages and put the region on the map.

“I always knew about the Wagga rail trail, but I never really understood that it was an entire train line from Wagga to Tumbarumba,” she said.

“Looking at the maps I saw there was the trail along the Rosewood to Tumbarumba section. But what about the rest?

“So I decided that I’d just go walk it and see what it is and what it isn’t.”

The passionate perambulator has seen much of the world on foot and explained that walking was a form of creativity and meditation for an overactive mind.

“I’m neurodiverse, so when I’m walking, my brain becomes empty,” she said.

“It’s like an active meditation.”

Leigh’s biggest adventure was a walk across Iran three years ago and she said it was a unique opportunity to explore the enigmatic country and to connect with its people.

“You see the history, the culture, and the lack of understanding in the West about Iran,” she said.

“There’s a huge difference between the regime and the people and the only way to show that was to go out there and walk it on foot.”

Leigh applied the same logic to her more modest 150-km walk to Tumbarumba, following the line wherever she could and reverting to nearby roads and forest trails when the tracks headed across private property.

“I spoke to a lot of farmers between Ladysmith and Humula, and what I came to learn is that they’re really private people, and maybe not so comfortable with the idea of outsiders coming into their private sanctuary – and I can see how it could be threatening,” she said.

“But at the same time, I think people feel they are forgotten and unheard and they see the economic value of it and they want to see their towns thriving instead of dying.”

Victoria has led the way in repurposing decommissioned railway corridors for recreational use and there are now dozens of rail trails that take advantage of the mild gradients, cuttings and infrastructure that would be otherwise abandoned.

The Rosewood to Tumbarumba ‘rail trail’ opened in 2020 and was the first to be developed for recreational use in NSW.

Snowy Valleys Councillor Julia Ham has been an advocate for the rail trails for almost a decade and said they require very little maintenance and have boosted the visitor economy.

“You go up to Tumbarumba now and you just see so many people riding their bikes around, and they’ve all got smiles on their faces,” she said.

“In Rosewood the coffee shop is just pumping with people on a Saturday afternoon and you can see so many people around who are obviously not from town.”

Julia said the issue of allowing public access to private land remained a sensitive topic but she had seen attitudes soften since the trial section was opened.

“We saw people up at Tumbarumba who were very anti and are now quite supportive of it,” she said.

“But I think that there is a fear of the unknown and there are people who remain very wary of it, so you’ve got to be sensible about it and respectful and work with the farmholders.

“The biggest challenge we have in connecting the trails is that it involves Wagga, Greater Hume and the Snowy Valleys councils, so we’d need to get enthusiasm from three councils to make it happen.”

Both Julia and Leigh spoke in glowing terms of the spectacular country between Humula and Rosewood, a section of the line that passes primarily through state forests.

“That section was amazing. No-one goes up there and it has been untouched for years,” said Leigh.

“You have massive wombats up there the size of running backs from the NFL, hundreds of deer, massive kangaroos and echidnas and it’s accessible right now.”

Leigh is passionate about the tourism opportunities the rail trails present but said it was crucial to get the marketing and the story right to attract outdoor enthusiasts.

“This could be like the Camino of the Riverina,” she said, referring to the iconic Camino de Santiago in Spain that attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year.

“When you say Camino, most people have an idea of what that is and they think of walking through different landscapes, meeting different people, staying in the towns or camping and it’s about having an experience and making a connection.

“Twenty kilometres from Rosewood to Tumbarumba isn’t enough to keep people in town, but if you could cycle or walk 150 km, they could be in this region for seven or eight days.”