Miners Rest is a North Western rural urban township on the fringe of Ballarat city. It is thought that the name is descriptive of its location, having been a camping place for miners en route to the Ballarat gold diggings. Despite its proximity to Ballarat, Miners Rest was not a prominent mining area. Its undulating landscape – including several bald hills and a flat area which became a racecourse – made it predominantly agricultural. Dowling Forest, a well-known racecourse is the venue for the annual Ballarat Turf Club meeting and has held meetings for the whole Ballarat district and for the Ballan Jockey Club since 1969. Dowling Forest was officially renamed Sportsbet-Ballarat in late 2013. In 2019, Sportsbet-Ballarat added a Synthetic Track which sees an increase in race meetings across the Winter period and quality racing surfaces all year round. This facility is one of the largest training facilities in the country. Many equine properties lie in and around the township, while the township is mainly made up of a residential neighbourhood, a general store, hotel, and further lifestyle facilities. Miners Rest has a primary school and kindergarten and is within a few minutes' drive from the Wendouree train station and Stockland shopping complex. It is located to the North of the Western Freeway and is approx. 12 km north-west of city of Ballarat.
