Great Roads: Eildon-Jamieson Road

Not for the faint-hearted, the Eildon-Jamieson Road is one of the most intense, spectacular and challenging roads I have ever ridden.

60 kilometres from town to town, the road is sealed from end to end, two lanes the entire length, and the longest straight would be no more than a kilometre or two.

You are met with stunning scenery for the entire journey, climbing and falling along the edges of, and through the heart of native forest.  It also has a beautiful atmosphere of isolation and serenity, and sees very little traffic based on my experience of the road.  It's also the only place I have visited recently when my Telstra phone was unable to offer me any reception at all.  My first trip down this road was solo and rather impromptu, but it occurs to me now that the combination of very little traffic and some challenging decreasing-radius turns and hairpins means you'd be wise to either travel the road with company, or at least let a friend know when you're departing, and drop them an SMS when you safely reach the other end.

Oh and just to state the obvious, there is no fuel on this road, so if in doubt, fill up before you start off.  There's premium unleaded available in Buxton and Jamieson - I didn't fill up in Eildon so I'm not sure what's on offer there.

This is not a road I'd recommend to a beginner rider - at least not if they are trying to work on their cornering technique.  It has plenty of surprises to throw at you, from leaf litter on the road to gravel shoulders that will spread stones across the bitumen when people have pulled over at the lookouts.  The corners are fantastic but there's not a great room for error if you are coming in too hot, and there's many a sheer drop of cliff face for you to target fixate upon if you're nervous.  But if you've got some riding under your belt, and especially if you have a friend or two to ride with, it's hard not to fall in love with this road.