Red Hill; Legal trails

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Hey Duck, what are Crits, Deadwood and Charlottes like? Worth checking out?
Sorry, missed this until now.

Crits is basically a fall-line run down the side of the hill, mostly on bare rock so it doesn't erode too much. It's not exceptionally technical; lots of little rock drops which could still catch you out though, with unforgiving landings. Deadwoods is tighter, twistier & not so rocky, but with some short steep sections. Both are comfortably rideable on XC bikes. Both spit out onto a fire road which takes you back up to the top of the trails (it's a bit of a bitch, but not as bad as The Peacemaker/Vomit in the main section), or can take you down the hill where it links to the quarry access rd, then out to Boundary Rd.

Charlottes is the most difficult trail in the legal network (the DH stuff around Eatons Cutting technically isn't really there.....), best ridden on a mid- to long-travel bike. The upper section is pretty rugged, with a long rock staircase (part of the trail is an old walking trail that fell into disuse), lots of rocks & tree roots, and a pretty big, rutty, nasty drop to mark the end of the first part. Below the drop, the second half of the trail is slightly more flowy & less rocky, but it's still got a few tricky bits up its sleeve. A short fire road descent takes you out to road access at the corner of Bunurong Tk & Latrobe Pde, where you'd be best to arrange a pickup. It's quite separated from the rest of the trail network, and without local knowledge it's very easy to get lost trying to find your way back!

Current conditions: Dry & incredibly dusty, with a quite a few loose corners to catch you out.
 

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
Rode Charlottes Pass today for the first time. It's a nice trail, quite technical and plenty of places where you could easily head off into the scrub.

Also rode the main trail area, it's all very dry and dusty at the moment.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Large tree down near the end of Wombat (4), which Parks will hopefully clear soon. If you're riding there over the next few days just be wary of it.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Tree on Wombat has been cleared; was down there on Sunday arv & all good.

The gap jump at the bottom of Pins & Needles has apparently been tamed as of last week, although I haven't ridden it to see exactly what's been done. It's been a bone of contention for a long time, both within the club and even moreso with Parks. The outline I heard a couple of weeks ago is that it's filled enough to make it possible to roll through, with a bit of a log kicker at each lip so it can still be treated as a double/gap jump for those who want to take it harder.
 

TheAzza

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Tree on Wombat has been cleared; was down there on Sunday arv & all good.

The gap jump at the bottom of Pins & Needles has apparently been tamed as of last week, although I haven't ridden it to see exactly what's been done. It's been a bone of contention for a long time, both within the club and even moreso with Parks. The outline I heard a couple of weeks ago is that it's filled enough to make it possible to roll through, with a bit of a log kicker at each lip so it can still be treated as a double/gap jump for those who want to take it harder.
Glad I finally grew the balls to start hitting that gap before they did that!!
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Quick little heads-up, Fall Line (Track 9) is closed for a few days for maintenance. Please respect the closure, all other trails are open and in Good Nick.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
Fall Line is re-opened. :smile: The log a little way down has been worked into a bit of a tabletop thing, but does have a bit of a kick which could catch out the unwary. Treat it nice & enjoy.

General trail note: very very dusty & slippery. Use caution 'cos it's not very grippy!
 
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Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
Here's a vid of my first exploration of Charlottes Pass if anyone is interested.

It runs down the western side of Arthur's Seat starting at Seawinds Park. It's the longest of the legal trails down Red Hill way.

https://youtu.be/meuofYGf4SQ
 

Boom King

downloaded a pic of moorey's bruised arse
thanks for posting that. was wondering what the trails were like down there...seems quite tight & technical in places. whats the elevation & climbing like?
It's about 130m or so lost over 1.7km. The climb back up is not very nice. Not hard to shuttle though.
 
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