Best Mountain Bike Rides of NSW

From ski resorts that transform into mountain bike mecha’s in the summer, to all year-round bike parks and road bikes for sale dedicated trails snaking through National Parks, there’s no shortage of dirt to ride in New South Wales.

With the help of some of our dirt crazed mates, we’ve sat down and compiled the best mountain bike locations and trails in NSW.

Blue Mountains
Situated around two hours away from Sydney lies the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains. Peppered with some of Australia’s most exhilarating and scenic mountain bike trails, the Blue Mountain region features a host of trails suited to all ability levels from beginner through to advanced.

For beginners, or riders wanting an easy pedal amongst stunning scenery, the Faulconbridge Point ride is one of many Blue Mountains’ popular ridge top rides in the region. Following a narrow fire road, the trail clocks in at an easy 7km. Riders should allow an hour each way to account for time spent taking in the scenery.

Riders seeking an all-day adventure are encouraged to check out Anderson’s Fire Trail (Ando’s for short). A great test of fitness for intermediate riders, the route travels (mostly downhill) from Wentworth Falls to Woodford through the central wilderness of the Blue Mountains National Park. The course is 31km one way including a savage climb out at the end.

Once in Woodford, you’ll find the famous ‘Oaks Fire Trail’. A similar distance, yet easier gradients and terrain compared to Anderson’s, the Oaks is an extremely popular day out for beginner and intermediate riders.

Both Anderson’s and Oak’s can be joined to create either a 60km ride or a genuinely epic 120km with some serious climbing. If the latter sounds like too much, the train is your best method of getting up the hill before your ride, stopping at either Wentworth Falls or Woodford depending on exactly which ride you’re undertaking.

So whether you want beauty or adrenalin, the Blue Mountains bike tracks are hard to beat and certainly worth adding to your travel itinerary.

North Sydney Region
Located just 16km from the Sydney CBD is Manly Dam. With an estimated 150,000 users per year, it’s not only Sydney’s most popular rides, but it’s also one of the most used trail networks in the entire country. The 10km loop is beginner friendly and consists of a mix of rocky single track, fire road and tarmac.

For those wanting a little more of a challenge, there several technical sections and route options sure to keep more capable riders satisfied.

The Bantry Bay trails located across the road from Manly Dam are groundbreaking, being the first purpose-built singletrack to be approved by NSW National Parks. These trails make use of the local sandstone to provide tight and technical trails, they’re certainly more challenging than a lap of Manly Dam.

Hornsby Old Man’s Valley
A purpose built trail network that offers a range of trails for various skills levels. This loop trail is fun regardless of whether you’re on a cross country, trail or Enduro bike.

St Ives and Duffys Forest
Beginner riders will surely have a great time riding the fire trails of Duffys Forrest. The Perimeter and Long trail offer comfortable riding and impressive scenery. These are shared-use trails, so be sure to give way to walkers and horse riders.

South Coast
The South Coast of Sydney offers up a surprisingly good mix of trail for those not wanting to stray too far from the big smoke.

Royal National Park
Around an hours drive from both Sydney and Wollongong lies the Royal National Park. Featuring a mix of fire trail and single track, there’s a range of trail options on offer for all riders, regardless of skill level.

Lady Carrington Drive is perfect for a family group ride, or beginners wanting to get their wheels dirty. For intermediate riders, the Loftus Oval loop offers up a healthy mix of singletrack and fire trail over its 26km length.

Nowra and Currambene Forest
If you don’t mind a little bit more of a drive, around 20 km south of Nowra is where the Currambene and Nowra state forests’ converge and are littered with XC (cross country) trails and fire roads. Nowra itself is around 160km drive south of Sydney.

Some key trails in the area include Coondoo, which features a few short climbs and technical sections over the 10 km long loop. For those chasing more technical trail, Superbowl, located a further five minutes down the road should cater to your needs. Featuring a mix of technical sections, punchy climbs, and fast flowing downhill sections over a 6km lap, it’s definitely worth visiting.

Other top-notch cycling can also be found down around Batemans Bay and Narooma, with action-packed trails also found in Morton and Murramarang National Park.

Snowy Mountains
Situated in South Eastern NSW, the Snowy Mountain Region, in particular, Thredbo, is fast becoming a cycling mecha. The trails in the area have long been used for National-level competition over Australia’s mountain bike history.

Travelling to the region by car takes around five and a half hours from Sydney, two and a half hours from Canberra or seven hours from Melbourne. For those wanting a more direct route, Regional Express (REX) airlines offer flights from both Canberra and Sydney to nearby Cooma Airport, a short one hour drive from the region.

Thredbo
Thredbo offers NSW’s only chair-lift access mountain bike park, making accessing a host of purpose-built trails on Australia’s highest peak a cinch. Just like the winter months, a pass is required to access the lifts, but the cost is soon negated by how simple it makes traversing back up the slopes to bomb down another trail.