Where to ride in Tassie?

P

Propagate

Likes Dirt
Hi all...

We were heading to Tas for the Hellfire Cup, now postponed due to the fires, (hope everyone out there is safe).

We're coming anyway as we're flying in from Vic and already have flights, camper & digs booked and paid for.

Our plan was to use the camper for the event, then we have 4 nights booked in central Hobart for riding Northsouth track & Glenorchy etc.

So, my question is, how do we best use the 4 days campervan from Hobart airport?

We're thinking of maybe heading straight up to Launceston? Is there much on the way/way back?

Is there enough riding round Launceston to make it worthwhile pitching the van there for the whole 4 days in one spot and riding in & out? (I've looked ta the Big4 site in Tamar, is this close to anything?).

So, any suggestions for a riding itinerary for 4 days of camper van use, driving out of Hobart & back to but not including Hobart, would be awesome.

Cheers.
 
harmonix1234

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Hey check out these this local site. It has all the best Tassie rides with user ratings, track style, difficulty etc. Plus all the GPS coordinates you could need from google maps.

http://pedalbite.com/rides

I havn't spent any time in Launnie, so I don't know what's up there. But if you bring the roadie I know there are haps of good roads up that way.
There is heaps to do in Hobart so if you just want to really get amongst it and see a place and experience all it has to offer Hobart is a great spot as there is lots of stuff to do within easy driving distance.

If you are in Hobart you can get on the MTB and see all the sites of hobart, and ride to the trails easily. It's a great city on bike.

If it's all about the Mountain Biking, and this is all you are doing I would suggest sending floody a PM.
There is probably nobody on here more knowledgeable about the local trails than him.
Mt Wellington Range definitely has enough awesome rides to see you entertained for the four days you are down south.

Also, Knut and Rone were just down here the last few weeks and I caught up with them for a coffee and they seemed to be getting out and seeing it all. I think Knut spent some time up North.

There is nothing in the middle of Tas. You have Launnie, and Hobart, and a big dead bit in the middle. Each time you travel from one end to the other you lose a day so try and minimise you north and south travel.

When in Hobs go to Mona, Check out Clarence MTB park, Glenorchy MTB park, Nth Sth track, and explore some of the trails around the wellington range, see the sites and spend half the time up North in Launnie and check out what they have up there.
Launnie has the Gorge which is worth a look too.

Be careful driving around at the moment down here.
This is a current pic of the state and the fires.
However, after just having the hottest day on record, we are forecast for snow tomorrow. That's Tassie for ya.

 
Last edited:
A

abennyy

Likes Bikes
If you want someone to show you round the eastern shore of Hobart give me a yell have pm'd you my mobile number.
 
F

frensham

Likes Dirt
You could do a section of the Tasmania Trail http://www.tasmaniantrail.com.au/home.html (basically goes from Devonport to Geeveston). One of you could be the support with the camper each day. Lovely country but fire roads as opposed to single track.

There is also a wonderful ride from Rosebery to Zeehan via Montezuma falls - one of the Wildside MTB stages. Another sensational day on the bike is from Trial Harbour to Granville Harbour (you can ride from Zeehan to Trial Harbour). Check out the Wildside MTB web http://wildsidemtb.com page for details. Stage 1 goes over private land so give this a miss.
 
K

Klips

Likes Dirt
Launceston has the Kate Reed NRA near the Silverdome which is well posted at both main entrances, there are three main trails and a bunch of loops off it. It's in good nick, I was on it last week. The other side of the highway has another set of trails that I think is where they are holding the races, it's named Trevaglyn or something? Anyway, there were dudes hanging out there too so I'm guessing it's operational. If you go to Sprung in central Launceston they can tell you about what's good and where it is.

If you're taking the roadie too, you should definitely do Mt Wellington when you're at Hobart, going up the road past the Cascade Brewery. It's a long, satisfying climb with no steep pinches so you can do it however hard you want, from screaming up it like the guy who went past me, to really frigging slow because you're riding with the missus who doesn't want to get out of her recovery zone (I think it hit a max of 250w, which given that I'm over 80 kegs is certainly not much).

Beyond that, if you're keen on getting some history with your MTB then the trip from Waratah to the ghost town of Magnet is amazing (go in via the concealed path at the back of the tip, it's muddy down to where the town was and then steep on the way back), and if you do it on a Friday then go to the Scenic View Cafe for pizza for dinner and chat to Chris, who will tell you exactly what you went through.
 
Turner_rider

Turner_rider

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Drive to the west coast, park at Trial Harbour and ride from there to Granville Harbour and back. Park at Roseberry and ride to Montezuma Falls or do Stirling Valley. That should be enough to fill your days along with driving and exploring
 
P

Propagate

Likes Dirt
Thanks for all the suggestions, certainly sounds like we'll be able fit plenty of riding in.

I'll check out the links & suggestions properly in the next day or so and an something out.

I'm thinking at the moment that we head straight from Hobart to Launceston as soon as we arrive, spend 4 days based out of Launy, return the camper to Hibart and stick to the original plan of 4 days riding out of Hobart.

We're more flexible at the Launy end as we'll have the camper to drive out to trail heads, but in Hobart all rides need to start and end near Cascade brewery.

Looking at whether we can take MTb & roadies but not sure how that will go down with Jetstar, so may have to stick with the MTBs.

Cheers.
 
K

Klips

Likes Dirt
If you're booked in at the Treasure Island Caravan Park in Launnie then you're literally at the bottom of the hill for the trails. No need to drive (unless you really hate climbing or you're riding a serious sled), it's a 10 minute climb up to both trail heads.
 
nathanm

nathanm

Eats Squid
if/when you're in Hobart send us a PM and i/we'll happily shuttle and show you round the mountain. Haven't done a Springs to Glenorchy via North South for a few weeks. Depeding on what type of bike you bring there's heaps of cool AM stuff to do.

However if you're looking for epic pedalling XC adventures I'm not your man, we ride more for the steak sanger and beers at the Cascade pub after kinda crew :evil:

Ben Mather at Avanti Plus Launceston would be well worth talking to as well, or stalk him on facebook. He would most likely be keen to point you to some of the trails to be used in the Blue Dragon race.

Maybe event shoot Duncan Giblin a message, he may be even keen to get back on the bike as a distraction from all the shit he's got going on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top