Malmsbury Reservoir

The Malmsbury Reservoir is a fantastic place to visit for an afternoon of boating, fishing, walking and picnics. Set in the gorgeous historical town of Malmsbury, this reservoir was constructed in the 1860s and has a very interesting history.

Malmsbury Reservoir was a crucial component in the original Coliban System of Water Works, which supplied fresh water to the goldfields of Castlemaine and Bendigo, and continues to supply water for domestic and agricultural use today.

Malmsbury Reservoir is an excellent and scenic place to visit for a picnic.

There is a great undercover picnic area with barbecues and picnic tables, plus several other picnic tables and rubbish bins.

Visitors can walk along the impressive dam wall, as well as down along the Coliban Channel to the striking Malmsbury Viaduct and through to the Malmsbury Botanic Gardens.

Malmsbury Reservoir is a great fishing destination, with fishing permitted along the shore as well as from boats. Malmsbury Reservoir is stocked regularly with brown trout and also has redfin and goldfish.

Kayaks, canoes and small portable craft are permitted at Malmsbury Reservoir. Fuel powered boats are strictly prohibited.

Swimming is not allowed at Malmsbury Reservoir.

If you're looking for some great places to go swimming in the Victorian Goldfields, check out this list.

An information sign at Malmsbury Reservoir displays the following information:

The original Coliban System of Water Works was designed in 1863 by the Irish engineer, Joseph Brady. Brady won a Victorian Government prize to design a system to carry water from a reservoir, to be built across the Coliban River at Malmsbury, to Bendigo (45 kilometres north in a straight line).

His solution was a gravity channel system that wound its way for 70 kilometres through the hilly country between Malmsbury and Bendigo. The system included open water channels, aqueducts, syphons and tunnels.

Malmsbury Reservoir was completed in 1873 and water flowed along the Coliban Main Channel to Castlemaine in 1874 and to Bendigo in 1877.

Before the completion of the Coliban System of Water Works, gold mining communities relied on water from local creeks. Every summer these creeks would dry up and leave filthy pools of water that caused terrible diseases such as cholera and dysentry.