Must Ride Spots?

treble

treble

Likes Dirt
Hey all,
My better half and I are planning to drive up the east coast of Australia this xmas holidays. Leaving from Melbourne, the plan is to camp and drive our way up to Cairns, stopping along the way in Canberra, Sydney, Byron, Brissy, Townsville and pretty much anywhere else that takes our fancy along the way. I was hoping for some recommendations as to what are the must ride locations in and around the east cost. That way, I can weave some sweet riding into the trip. I'd be looking to ride some downhill, but the missus isn't keen on riding double black DH trails, so some XC would be good too. We will have our bikes and gear with us so rental isn't an issue.

Was thinking of probably making a stop at Thredbo and Stromolo.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
J

Jack Douglas

Cannon Fodder
Sydney

Stop at Sydney's Northern Beaches and ride the Manly Dam trail, good techy AM loop. And hit up the oxford Falls FR/ DH trails.

Super Jealous!!
 
M

my02

Likes Dirt
Jack Douglas said:
Stop at Sydney's Northern Beaches and ride the Manly Dam trail, good techy AM loop. And hit up the oxford Falls FR/ DH trails.

Super Jealous!!
Click to expand...
Lets be honest, Manly Dam is XC at best and comprises a fair chunk of fire trail and even bitumen! Calling it techy AM is a big stretch!

Red Hill (close to Manly Dam) IS techy though and there are also some other good DH / AM trails very close by.

If you can, call in to Ourimbah or Awaba for a good mix of XC, AM and DH. They're between 90 mins and 2 hours North of Sydney.
 
P

poita

Likes Dirt
Have just driven that stretch, albeit without a bike. Definitely stop at stromlo/Canberra. Stay at the canberra van park I think it's called in lyneham, you and the lady can go for an xc pedal on your doorstep on Bruce ridge before you head to Sydney!
Sydney if you can be bothered.
Definitely Newcastle, awaba glenrock and ourimbah.
Possibly a stop in port Macquarie? Some trails there, but not heaps.
Not sure of much after that to Brisbane, but I am sure there is lots.
Then probably the sunshine coast has some stuff?
Rockhampton has a few trails.
Definitely Townsville, plenty to keep you occupied there.
Then cairns, where you could probably spend weeks!!

I was mostly interested in xc, and I didn't have a bike, but I did go and check the trails. Have fun!
 
B

bpow

Likes Dirt
Byron now has a fun trail and I would try to make it out to Mt Joyce which is west of Surfers Paradise. Great trails out there.
 
wavike

wavike

Likes Dirt
Give Mt Joyce a ago, camp overnight and head out early. It's going to be hot and get way hotter as you head north. It may also be wet.
 
B

bardles

Likes Dirt
Once you hit the Gold Coast, Nerang is a must for excellent rugged xc. Nerang Outlook had some big stuff, not sure if its still rideable.

Up the highway, just south of Brissie is Daisy Hill - cruisy, groomed xc trails.

Northside has Gap Creek - fun, and Bunyaville. All legal, fun.

Sunshine Coast - Parklands has some great track, its just outside Nambour. And I've heard excellent things about 20 odd km at Tewantin.

Once you are in Cairns, Smithfield is the place to go, and further inland to Atherton - world class things happening out that way.

Good luck and post your journey!
 
digitalhippie

digitalhippie

Likes Dirt
There are so many great trails... I'm kinda part way through a east coast MTB road trip of sorts, from Victoria to North Queensland and back. I was limited for time on the way up but have fitted in a few so far including

Glenrock, Newcastle
Jack's Ridge, Nambucca Heads
Mt Joyce, Queensland
Daisy Hill, Brisbane
Gap Creek, Brisbane
Bunyaville, Brisbane
Douglas Trails, Townsville
Pallarenda, Townsville

Stories and pics on each location at
http://digitalhippie.net/tag/east-coast-mtb-road-trip/

I'm visiting my folks for a while in North Queensland. While I'm up here also hope to visit Atherton and Cairns.

Have a huge wishlist for the way back to Victoria, will just have to see what is possible/what route I take.

Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Nerang, Queensland
Coffs Harbour, NSW
Kempsey, NSW
Armidale, NSW
Orange, NSW
Taree, NSW
Awaba, NSW
Ourimbah, NSW
Tathra, NSW
Stromlo, ACT
etc!!!

Here's a couple of pics from Townsville today. Douglas trails are great fun, and don't miss Pallarenda - km's of singletrack overlooking the ocean, huge views, fricking nuts :)

douglas-mtb-trails-mt-stuart-townsville-scenic-610.jpg

under-the-radar-cape-pallarenda-mountain-bike-track-ocean-views-square.jpg

Keep the weather in mind - heat etc over Chrissy could suck. Even at this time of the year ride early/drive during the day/ride late was the go. Today was over 30 in Townsville, by mid morning it was starting to get pretty toasty on the trails.
 
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outtacontrol

outtacontrol

Likes Bikes and Dirt
digitalhippie said:
Here's a couple of pics from Townsville today. Douglas trails are great fun, and don't miss Pallarenda - km's of singletrack overlooking the ocean, huge views, fricking nuts :)



Keep the weather in mind - heat etc over Chrissy could suck. Even at this time of the year ride early/drive during the day/ride late was the go. Today was over 30 in Townsville, by mid morning it was starting to get pretty toasty on the trails.
Click to expand...
Glad you had fun. Give me a yell next time and I will give you the tour. Have a couple of trails you missed that you will like. Sticks and Stones should give your camera a good workout ;)

Just don't plan it for the middle of the day :)
 
marc.r

marc.r

Likes Dirt
awaba (misleading name as its located close to cooranbong) is def worth stopping at. right off the freeway too.
 
thecat

thecat

NSWMTB, Central Tableland MBC
For variety XC, DH, AM... Lithgow should be on the list. If you are stopping at Stromlo slip up the back way through Goulburn and Oberon. You could even put aside a couple of days and use Lithgow as a base to check out some of the excellent upper mountain trails to the east and Central west/Orange trails to the west
 
willsy01

willsy01

Eats Squid
Tathra is currently at the top of my list of places to go, looks like a fantastic little spot:

[video=youtube_share;wPpx1OSpa9Q]http://youtu.be/wPpx1OSpa9Q[/video]

Have ridden Kiwarrak in Taree, very highly recommend it.
 
mtb1611

mtb1611

Seymour
Re Canberra, I'd recommend Sparrow Hill rather than Stromlo; that's just my personal preference though. You could then head up the freeway to Wingello and Bundanoon to check out the singletrack portions of the Highland Fling and 3 Ring Circus and even pop in at Welby (Mittagagong). Back onto the Hume Hwy up to Campbelltown to hit up Kentlyn (rocky, technical singletrack) as well as the super-tops out-and-back goodness of the Kessell Run at Camden. From there make your way up the M5, M7 and M4 to Lithgow, cross country to Ourimbah, Glenrock and Awaba. A few hours north to the Golf Course track at Kempsey (apparently great) and then another hour north to Nambucca Head for Jack's Ridge (brilliant, makes me actually look forward to the annual trek to the mother-in-law's), then 45 minutes North to Cows With Guns at Pine Creek (just south of Coffs, as previously mentioned). That's where my knowledge ends unfortunately!

Dammit, that took me 3 minutes to type but will fuel my jealousy for much longer! Drive safe and have a great time!
 
Ridenparadise

Ridenparadise

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Go to Tathra and also a quick loop around Mogo on sth coast NSW.

If Thredbo is on the list you should also spend a day over at East Jindabyne.

Re Mt Joyce - be prepared to ride 8km uphill before there is any down. If you do Nerang, call into Just Ride bike shop and check the detailed trail map on the service area counter. There are >50km of trails hidden in there.

+1 for Townsville. Personally, I suggest you and the wife also take the ferry to Magnetic Is with your XC bikes. You can ride the walking trails and cover the entire island road system in a day. Lunch at Horseshoe Bay and maybe a quick dip (in the stinger net area).
 
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