Trail Reviews

Latest Track News on Sparrow Hill ... what is the future of those amazing trails!?

This is from Paul Cole, legendary MTB track builder, aka The Trail Fairy, date Oct + Sept 2011.

January 2012

The roadworks crew ( building the new highway through Sparrow) expect to be out of Sparrow by late Feb / early March. There is now 27 kms of track available in both Sparrow & Orchard RD/East Kowen - grand total of 54 kms, enough to keep the punters happy. Enjoy and once again thanks to Paul Cole for the trail info.

October 2011

Bit of an update for you re Sparrow. Should have the current 6 km loop extended out to 16 km by the middle of this week. Rode then intended course this week - really good to get back into some of the fav tracks. We are now able to use the underpass & its all good. I have advertised a track cleanup day for this coming Sunday - more work days to follow in the coming weeks.

Happy trails

Paul

September 2011

After a meeting with Forestry, I have closed off Sparrow (the remaining 6 km loop). Things were getting very messy around the road construction cross over area - too many big toys on the move etc!! But we will have full access back into Sparrow when the underpasses are linked & available in the next couple of months.

As soon as they are operational, I have permission from Forestry to take crews into the compartments to uncover the tracks which have been buried during the thinning operations. So its all heading the right direction, but out of bounds for the time being. But we now have an extended loop of 23 kms in the Orchard Rd & East Kowen area.

Park at Sparrow & ride 100 metres east to the Orchard Rd gate off you go. I have pushed out the Mont loop a bit & its proving very popular with the punters. Inside the long loop, I have marked 4 ,7, 10 & 13 km loops ( no gates to climb through !). These inner loops basically shortcut the big loop to give riders a choice. When you do ride the area next time, be sure to ride the 10 km loop - it includes 2 of my favourite tracks , "Rolling Thunder Part 1 " & "Rolling Thunder Part 2" ; not a lot of pedalling required, but a little bit of downhill rolling as the names imply.

By mid 2012, we will have 25 km in Orchard Rd & East Kowen, & hopefully approx 25 - 30 in Sparrow again. The current highway (where we now park) will become a 60 kph service road which will end at the Orchard Rd gate. So parking will stay at the same spot, but the highway traffic will be up inside the forest at the new road alignment. Access into Sparrow for MTB will be a via the underpasses - there is a smaller 3 m x 3 m underpass just down to the right of the Windy Loo toilet ( which is retained) & a larger 7 m x 5 m (height for logging trucks) down to the left where we use to run down "Creek Run". Both Forestry & the highway construction people have been really keen to work with the MTB crowd & maintain MTB access as long as possible.

The harvest crew have moved out of Sparrow up into the main part of Kowen Forest (away from our MTB network & on the other side of the fence where the motos play), but they will be back in Sparrow after summer for a short time to finish off a couple of compartments. There is now a 60 kph zone around the Sparrow parking area (finally!!!!) with an 80 kph step down zone either side. Sanity at long last. So there is still plenty to ride in the area & will only get better.

Mount Majura is located on the north eastern outskirts of Canberra. Mount Majura has held its fair share of race days and also 24 hour races. This park is a favourite for its well established trails and often kangaroo sightings.

Track Type

Mount Majura's pine forest is used by all Canberra mountain bikers and contains a mixture of single track and trials amongst the pine forest, there is a 10.5k loop with 80% of that single track. Again there are a number of opportunities along the track to exit the main trail and complete some more arduous trails. Majura trails are fast flowing and technical single-track with a myriad of gully crossings, bridges and obstacles. The large trail network provides riders with endless ride options, which can mix quality XC courses with technical downhill runs all in the same ride.

Here is some great footage of the new MTB Skills Park that was opened in September of 2011 at Mt Stromlo - we can wait to get on those trails and work on our very own MTB skills

The Stromlo Forest Park MTB trails are located on the side of Mt Stromlo on the western outskirts of Canberra. Prior to the devastating Canberra bushfires in 2003 this site was the location of the Mont 24hr MTB race, and contained some of the best and oldest MTB trails in Australia. Today it is back and is an amazing site to ride over the many single track trails. It showed its true brilliance in 2008 when it held the World Cup for Mountain Biking.

News to Hand

6 December 2011

DROP ZONE AND WALL RIDES OPEN

The latest addition to The Playground is open to ride. The Drop Zone has 4 drops ranging from 300mm up to 1200mm and there are two wall rides including a 15 metre long curved monster wall. Can't wait to go check it out on our trips in 2012!

Track Type

The first stage of Mt Stromlo, built by Glen Jacobs, has 50km of XC mountain bike trails, comprising approximately 30km of single track and the rest made up of well-established fire trails. The single track is well structured around a 15km 'backbone' trail suitable for all MTB rider skill levels, with the additional single track coming off this trunk trail at a series of junctions around the park. There is also an International standard DH trail, a 4X course and a recently added trials section. Tracks are constantly being added, in the near future there will be a 2nd DH trail and there is an amazing 45km of additional single track being built on the backside of the mountain. Mt Stromlo MTB Map can be found here.

The Bruce Ridge MTB trails are located in Bruce ACT, not far from where we stay at the Australian Institute of Sport. Close enough to roll out of bed and roll onto the trails on the Sunday mornings. Close enough to finish riding on the afternoon session and then head back out after dinner for a night sesh! After living at the AIS and having this as my back yard trail it was hard to leave but now we visit every time we are down there. 

News to Hand

Some truly amazing work has been done by the Friends of Bruce Ridge (FoBR). The trails are starting to settled in nicely and some great trail changes have occurred in the last year. The FoBR are happy to continue their work with CORC as a supporter. Future works where CORC can be involved are the manufacturing of trail information signs, expansion into O'Connor ridge to the north and Black Mt to the south (this is very long term works).

Track Type

This does have to be one of my favourite places to ride ... flowing single track, not too technical just a heap of fun. The trails at Bruce Ridge were 'secret' for many years, build as a mixed-use facility, for runners, dog walkers and riders -on the fire trails, it was a well used area. Now with the aid of FoBR they have come on line as legal. It is a spaghetti type trail area with no defined direction. It is almost impossible to get lost and there is track EVERYWHERE! More trails is regularly being added and this trails only add to the allure of the place. It is a sandy based trail mix so make sure you've got your tyres running at the right psi and work on those cornering skills. Before you know it you'll be beaming with smiles and in awe at the natural beauty of Bruce Ridge ... you may also see a few roo's in there while you're railing some trails. 

Link to be uploaded when logging has been finalised. It is still an amazing place to ride!

Sparrow Hill is located on the south eastern side of the ACT. In 2009 and for many other years it has held the Mont 24 hour race and has one of the all time best sections called 'the bobsled' which was lost to the logging in 2011. There is a rumour that it will return.

Track Type - This is now history - NOTE there is still 6k of single track which will expand soon

Sparrow Hill consists of 34km of marked track, single track and link fire road combined, of which 90% us single track. This amazing track is achievable for all skill levels. Please note that there is a main loop with a number of more technical outer loops comprising rock bridges, rock gardens and step-downs on offer for the more adventurous rider. These optional detours will bring you back to the main loop. There are a number of opportunities along the track to exit the main trail and complete a shorter loop. Tracks are fast flowing, with numerous options to mix up the riding experience. Built by the same track builders, including Paul Cole (CORC), who laid down some of the classic MTB trails of Canberra's Mt Stromlo and Deek's Forest Park, Sparrow Hill has become one of Australia's premier riding locations.