The Big Peninsula Tunnel is a small river diversion tunnel on the upper Yarra River near McMahons Creek, around 80 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The tunnel was dug in 1864, during the Victorian gold rush, by alluvial gold miners to provide access to the bed of the Yarra River. Big Peninsula Tunnel is a square section, about 2 metres high and wide, and approximately 25 metres long.[1][2][3]

The tunnel can be accessed from a small carpark off the Woods Point Road, approximately 15 km east of Warburton and 1 km below McMahons Creek. The Goldfields Walking Trail starts nearby.[4]

The site is listed in the Victorian Heritage Inventory.[1]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Big and Little Peninsula Tunnels, Victorian Heritage Inventory Number H8022-0044". Victorian Heritage Database. Heritage Victoria. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  2. ^ "Historic Gold Mining Sites in the St Andrews Mining Division" (PDF), Victorian Goldfields Project, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, July 1999, archived from the original (PDF) on 15 March 2011
  3. ^ Steenhuis, Luke (1994). Secret Places of the Upper Yarra Valley. Launching Place, Victoria: A.B.C Maps. p. 30. ISBN 0-646-20674-5.
  4. ^ Padula, Bob (19 July 2009), Peninsula Tunnels east of Warburton, archived from the original on 5 March 2012, retrieved 13 September 2010

37°42′19″S 145°49′10″E / 37.70528°S 145.81944°E / -37.70528; 145.81944