Pretty cool ride today – mountain unicycling in the crater of an extinct volcano, and it’s only a 10 minute drive from home. True story!
Okay so Mt Franklin these days isn’t a HUGE mountain by any measure – at ~635m it’s more like a large hill – but go back a few years when the volcanic plains in these parts were jam packed with over 400 eruption points things would’ve been a lot different. Mt Franklin still retains the classic volcano shape, which is now shrouded by pine trees. A road passes through a notch cut into the rim providing vehicle access to the recreation area set in the crater and to trails that head up towards the rim.
Ignoring the trees, being inside the crater feels a bit like being in a huge skate park bowl and the ground cover of pine needles make it possible to ride all over the place.
I didn’t have a lot of time to spare so headed up towards the rim, riding around then a few downhill runs. LOTS of fun. I drive past Mt Franklin a couple of times a day, will be keeping a uni in the boot more often 🙂
is the area the birthplace of Mount Franklin spring water? i have always suspected that Mt. Franklin water is actually tap water passed off as expensive spring water…. 🙂 i wouldn’t put it past Coca Cola Amatil….looking fwd to moving bvack to oz so I can ride with you again mate.
heya Daniel, found this info below on the origins of Mt Franklin spring water. Amazingly Gilmore’s Spring is actually nearby Mt Franklin so at some point it wasn’t tap water:
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Mineral water from Gilmore’s (Limestone Creek) Mineral Spring was bottled by Coca Cola and marketed as Mount Franklin mineral water. The last extraction occurred in the fiscal year 1985/1986. The label “Mount Franklin” mineral water has become a generic name and though is the name is still used it does not relate nor contain water from the Gilmores (Limestone Creek) mineral spring.
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I wonder if a similar thing happened with the Deep Spring mineral water brand, which was sourced from Deep Spring just outside of Daylesford. Which reminds me I’ve been meaning to take the MUni to Deep Spring – quite a nice spot!