BREAKNECK, Yarra Glen
Breakneck is a track leading from the western end of King Street up a steep ridge of the Christmas Hills escarpment to the Skyline Road. It is said to be part of an ancient Wurundjeri pathway. The first Europeans known to use it were the Ryrie brothers who drove cattle from New South Wales in 1838 to take up a pastoral lease on the Yarra flats between present day Yarra Glen and Healesville. This was the only route between Melbourne and the upper Yarra valley for many years. The steep descent often required teamsters to chain logs to their wagons to prevent accidents. Once gold was discovered at Woods Point in 1861 and, to a lesser extent, Steels Creek, traffic increased and demand called for a safer track. By the end of the 1860s a new route through Christmas Hills followed Watsons Creek further north, along the present Osborne Road and descended the escarpment via Mount Wise.