Education

YOUR GUIDE TO GREAT BIKE TRAILS IN QLD

As the second-largest and third most populous state in Australia, Queensland offers a large amount of cool things to do. One of these is mountain biking. Whether you are a beginner or highly skilled rider, Queensland is home to a variety of mountain bike trails that will leave you feeling satisfied. This guide will introduce you to just a few of the great bike trails nestled away in various parts of the state.

Gap Creek

Where: Mount Coot-tha, 15 km west of Brisbane

Difficulty Level: Easy, Intermediate, Difficult, Very Difficult

Gap Creek is home to a range of mountain bike trails that cater for all skill levels. It has fantastic tracks that are up to IMBA standards and great features such as rock gardens, log jumps, skinny bridges and armoured berms. Trails such as Cubberla creek trail, Echidna and Rocket Frog offer a nice cruisy trail for beginners with a curving track and a few technical obstacles such as logs. For those who are advanced riders, the Pipeline trail is an awesome track designed by experienced riders. Pipeline has lots of technical features such as rock gardens, armoured berms and some sweet jumps. If you are a keen mountain bike rider this park is right down your alley.

Hidden Vale Adventure Park

Where: Grandchester, 80 km south-west of Brisbane

Difficulty Level: Easy, Intermediate, Difficult, Very Difficult

Hidden Vale Adventure Park (HVAP) is another track that caters to a variety of skill levels. This park has a network of approximately 50 km of singletrack with features such as balance beams, seesaws and bridges, to name just a few. The mountain bike trails have been in action since 2006 and are regularly sprouting new features and tracks. HVAP has a large variety of cross-country tracks and skill parks where you can practice and put your skills to the test. Most of the individual trails are 2-4 km long, however if you are keen for a longer ride you can opt for the 8km Epic trail.

Mt Joyce Recreation Escape Park

Where: Wyaralong, QLD

Difficulty Level: Easy, Intermediate, Difficult, Very Difficult

Mount Joyce Recreation Park provides a network of trails for cross country, downhill and four cross riders. With over approximately 25 km of International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) standard single-track, this Park is a great place for both experienced and advanced riders to take their bikes for a spin. The tracks range from Green Trails to Double-Black Diamond Level Trails and has been designed to event standard. Although the Double-Black Diamond Level Trails are only open to experienced riders during events, the available easy and difficult tracks suit a variety of skill levels and will keep your heart-rate up.

Parklands Conservation Park

Where: 110 km North of Brisbane

Difficulty Level: Easy, Intermediate, Difficult, Very Difficult

Parklands Conservation Park is a key mountain biking destination on the Sunshine Coast. This Park has over 30 km of singletrack that takes you up rocky climbs, across creeks, along twisty trails and through dense forest areas. You can start your adventure at Radar Hill Rd Carpark or park at the end of Atkinson Rd and head down the steep fire road that will take you to a variety of steeper single tracks. The tracks will keep you on your toes with tight turns, some slippery spots, tree roots and epic descents. Some of the tracks include Snake Palm, New Zealand, Rockodile, RocknRoll, Road Rage,T Track, The Meadows and Chairlift. The tracks at Parklands Conservation Park are tough and are best to ride when conditions are NOT muddy and wet.

For a map of the trails click here.

Daisy Hill Conservation Park

Where: Logan

Difficulty Level: Easy, Intermediate

Daisy Hill Conservation Park is home to a number of mountain bike trails including Nirvana, Turning Japanese, Possum Box, Tunnel of Love, Koala, Grass Tree and Stonehenge. If you are looking for less challenging tracks, this area is great for beginners and intermediate riders. Of all the trails Nirvana is possibly the most difficult as it has a couple of steep climbs and a few areas that require technical skills. One of the downsides of this series of trails is that they are two way. This means that you have to keep an eye out for riders coming from the other direction. If you have a kid that wants to have a go at mountain biking, they will be able to tackle some of the easier tracks without too much trouble.

Feature image source: Richard Masoner

Hidden vale Adventure Park image source: Andy Carter

Daisy Hill Conservation Park image source: dfinnecy 

Last updated: 28th February 2014

Share this