The Best Mountain Biking Trails in Tasmania
Image Credit: Flow Mountain Bike
Tasmania will satisfy your mountain biking cravings. There's no doubt about that. The real question is which of the world-class MTB parks you'll be spending your time at. Do you choose Blue Derby, Maydena, or Wild Mersey? The list goes on.
If you're travelling to Tasmania purely for this reason, or you're choosing to add in a day or two on the trails, this guide will ensure you experience the very best trails the island state has to offer.
What this guide offers is local knowledge and a summary of the best trails in the state. If they're not here, I'd suggest you don't worry about them.
Most MTB parks are worth your time, but not all. Some of these are outlined at the end of the guide to help you choose whether you'll still visit them or not.
Lastly, not every trail network is labelled as an MTB park. Some of the best places are local secrets, tucked away in the Tasmanian bushland. You might stumble across them in your travels, but as a fair few are off the beaten track, we've highlighted them here in lesser known mtb parks so you have the opportunity to consider them before you venture to Tasmania.
Next, we'll speak about hiring a bike or bringing your own. If you've already decided, just skip over this and straight onto the best parks in the state.
If riding is your bread and butter, you'll likely own a bike and be familiar with it. You can either choose to bring this with you or hire a bike in Tasmania. The main points to consider are:
Cost of transporting the bike to Tasmania;
Storage for the bike while travelling Tasmania;
Ability to maintain and repair the bike while on holiday.
On the other hand, if you want to jump on a bike and try out the trails as a once-off experience, you'll likely require a bike and therefore the obvious choice is to hire one.
Now, as a rider, you know what you need. There are recommendations throughout the blog as to who to hire from. For those that don’t know, check out those recommendations, call in advance and ask in store to get the best possibly option for your skill level and desired riding experience.
If you’d like to hire a bike for your full trip in Tasmania, you can hire a bike from somewhere such as Roll Cycles in Hobart, and take it with you in a Dual Cab from Bargain Car Rentals. They have shingleback bike racks for a once off $100. If you decide to go down this route, use the code ‘TASUNEARTH’ for a bonus 7.5% off!
Now, let's check out the best MTB parks Tasmania has to offer.
Blue Derby Mountain Bike Park is one of, if not the best mountain bike park in Tasmania. It's a short 1.5-hour drive East of Launceston, the closest city with an airport accessible from mainland Australia. Everything within the park is easily accessible from the trailhead via Long Shadows which takes you up a long and easy climb to the top. Along the way, you'll find some junction points if you don't want to climb the full distance.
If riding to the top isn't quite your style, then you also have the option of taking the shuttle service. This will drop you off at multiple points. It's an ideal way to go if you'd prefer to preserve your energy for downhill trails. Vertigo MTB offers three shuttles for $39 (this may have changed, so visit their website for further details).
If you're after some of the longer trails in the area, you'll want to begin outside of Derby at Weldborough, approximately a 20-minute drive away. There are three trails here. Little Chook is the entry-level trail, which also brings you to Big Chook, the meaner big brother of Little Chook. The third trail, Blue Tier Trail, which we recommend turning into a day trip, is accessible via a shuttle (again through Vertigo, but more expensive to access these trails) from Derby or Weldborough. Blue Derby refers to this as the quintessential Blue Derby experience, a trail that has it all. From the top of the Blue Tier, it can take up to four hours to complete. Once you complete the Blue Tier Trail, have some lunch at the Weldborough pub, and then catch the shuttle to the top of Atlas which will put you back in the Derby trail network. If you take this approach, bring a daypack and rain jacket. The weather can vary and get quite cold, even during the summer season.
Website: https://www.ridebluederby.com.au/
Essential Information
Bike shops & hire
You have a few options here: Evolution Biking, Vertigo MTB, Bark Off Biking or Derby Bike Shop. All of these offer essential parts (Shimano and SRAM), mechanics on hand and specialised bikes for hire. Look in advance to check availability and for the terms and conditions of hire of bikes.
Accommodation
Derby has camping grounds at Derby Park, which requires a $20 entry fee (and goes directly to the maintenance of the trails - see it as an investment to the MTB community) next to the river which is always an enjoyable experience. There are toilets and a shower block (not free, but open to the public). If you'd like a free camping experience, you can choose one of the three locations:
Branxholm Centenary Park
RV Camping at Ringarooma Rec Ground
Northeast Park, Scottsdale
If camping isn't your thing, here are a few other options that you may enjoy:
The Derby Lodge (0.12km from trailhead)
Cascade Cottage (0.17km from trailhead)
Tin Mountain (0.52km from trailhead)
Dales of Derby (1.33km from trailhead)
Personally, I'm a fan of Airbnbs. You'll find countless options to explore on the Airbnb website. Make sure to book well in advance!
Food
There are a few great food options in Derby, our top picks are The Hub and Two Doors Down Cafe. If you've gone to Weldborough for the day, your only option is Weldborough Hotel.
Make sure to stop by a nearby town first if you'd like a packed lunch. Scottsdale has a Woolworths and IGA for all your food needs. A great way to save money if you're staying for a longer period of time.
Reception
Telstra is your best option. Some riders have said other providers have no coverage at all in the area.
Fuel Station
At the moment, there are no fuel stations in Derby. Your closest options are Scottsdale and Gladstone.
Much like Blue Derby, Maydena is amongst the best trails in the world. It really is first class. You'll likely be travelling here from Hobart, around an hour and a half west towards the border of South West National Park, roughly 10 minutes past Mount Field National Park. If you plan to stay out here for longer than a day, you'll need to bring everything you plan to use and eat (food, beer, etc...).
It's an incredible area to ride, requiring you to stay fully aware on every trail, even the blues and greens. The park has over 30km+ of gravity trails (possibly even more at this point) that are long, quick and steep. You really want to be experienced before tackling Maydena otherwise you won't get much out of the park. There's a single shuttle that runs to the peak of the trails. It'll take around 20 minutes all up. A few stand out trails are The Local, Waratah and Scandinavia.
Website: https://www.maydenabikepark.com/
Essential Information
Bike shops & hire
The shop at Maydena is stocked up with parts and should always have a mechanic on hand as well. You can hire out bikes too, including: Trek Slash/Session/Rail/Roscoe and Commencal META 20/24 for the kids. Prices vary from $80 to $165 / day. It's recommended to grab a decent bike and not cheap out while at Maydena. You'll thank yourself while on the trails later.
Pre-book your hire to avoid missing out.
Accommodation
There are two main accommodation options in Maydena:
Giant's Table Cottages
Blue Square Maydena
Alternatively, you could look on Airbnb or consider making a day trip out here from Hobart if you don't need any more than a day on the trails.
Food
There's a single cafe called Fika Time Cafe, which from experience, is a solid feed.
Alternatively, you can choose to bring out your own food.
Reception
I had reception the whole time I was out here. I'm with Telstra and can't speak from experience for other service providers. Best to check in advance if your provider has a 'coverage map'.
Fuel Station
Maydena has a single petrol station that you can use.
Another great asset to Tasmanian Mountain Biking. St Helens Mountain Bike Park, a short 5 minute drive up from the town of St Helens, has a great selection of trails for all riders. Unlike Maydena, where you need some level of experience to fully enjoy the trails, St Helens offers green trails with no surprises or scary features that are great for beginners. The higher skilled trails offer technical challenges and are all well laid out. Given the location and range of trails, this really is the best park in Tasmania for the family. Another bonus is that the park isn't located in a rainforest, so the trails tend to be drier more often than Derby.
Townlink is hit and miss for riders, some loving the windy return to the caravan park, while others aren't too keen on it. Give it a try and see what you think! If you don't have a driver, you can purchase the shuttle for $15pp (may have changed since writing, so call and check in advance!).
If you're planning on riding here, check the trail status in advance to avoid disappointment!
Lastly, it would be rude to not mention the 42km Bay of Fires trail. This is accessible via the shuttle from Derby or St Helens and takes up to 4.5 hours to complete. Kind of like Blue Tier (in Derby) but in the opposite direction. For those wanting to ride this trail, please, bring your own water, snacks, first aid kit and puncture repair kit. You don't want to get stranded out here.
Website: https://www.sthelensmtbtrails.com.au/
Essential Information
Bike shops & hire
Vertigo MTB (also found in Derby) is a great go-to while in St Helens for both bike hire and spare parts. The staff are well informed and always provide great suggestions to riders needing advice. If you're unsure on how to best utilise your day, they can help craft up a ride plan too.
Accommodation
You won't run out of places to stay here. Three of my top picks include:
Food
If you're staying in the area for more than a night, I'd recommend trying a few different options from below. It's always cheaper to buy some groceries from the supermarket and cook at your accommodation, but you're on holiday, go treat yourself:
Furneaux Restaurant & Comptoir (worth a try despite some higher prices)
Reception
Can get patchy on some of the trails as you go further west from the East Coast of Tasmania.
Fuel Station
Fuel stations everywhere. You'll be okay here.
Possibly a park that isn't ridden by tourists as much as it is locals, Wild Mersey, found a short drive south of Latrobe, is full of trails for the experienced rider. There are two other sections of trail too, found in Railton and Sheffield, which are a little further of a drive than the Latrobe trailhead. Wild Mersey was built by riders, for riders, and a fair selection of trails aren't for the feint-hearted. If you're a beginner, you'll find a few you can ride without any issue, but you may feel a little out of your league for the rest. We recommend checking out the features by doing a reccy run first.
The climbs are well built and necessary to access most of the park. There is no shuttle service as the park isn't quite on the same scale as others previously mentioned.
Two popular tracks are High Voltage and Laughing Gear. A friend of mine can't get enough of these.
Website: https://ridewildmersey.com.au/
Essential Information
Bike shops & hire
Wild Ride cycles is your one and only stop for bike hire. This is found on the main street of Latrobe, Tasmania.
Accommodation
We recommend staying in Devonport (or Latrobe if you find something you like) and making the short 10 minute drive out each day you choose to spend on the trails.
Food
Reliquaire and Anvers are two great options nearby in Latrobe.
Reception
No need to worry. These trails aren't as isolated as Derby and Maydena. All service providers will have you covered.
Fuel Station
Google maps will show you the closest station. You'll have plenty of options.
We've covered some of the more popular trails for mountain bike riding in Tasmania, but if you're not able to make it to any of the above parks, or you're after even more, there are plenty of other MTB trails that you can explore. Some of the following areas only have one or two trails and may not be worth your time. I'll leave that for you to decide based on your skill level.
Dial Range / Penguin Mountain Bike Park
These two parks are quite close together that it's worth regarding them as one. Penguin is located between Burnie and Ulverstone, located on the North-West Coast of Tasmania. The Cradle Coast Mountain Bike Club built the Penguin MTB park a fair number of years ago and it's had its fair share of use. Riders can find berms, a jump line (recommended by a few locals but unsure of how maintained it is) and a few technical challenges along the way. The Dial Ranges isn't too far past the Penguin park. One highlight here is Iron Tor, which is a loop that takes around an hour to complete.
For more information on the trails, head over to Trailforks.
Hollybank MTB Park
Slightly north of Launceston is the Hollybank MTB park. I'd say calling it a 'park' is slightly overkill as there aren't too many trails here. Still, if you're in the area and are itching for a ride, you might want to go check it out.
Juggernaut is the main trail here, and at the bottom of this is No Sweat that you can warm up on. You'll need a driver to take you to the summit of Juggernaut.
Meehan Range / Clarence Mountain Bike Park
This is a more comprehensive trail network than Hollybank and Penguin / Dial Ranges, and almost on par with some of the more popular parks mentioned in the first section of this blog. Getting here is straight forward. Simply head out towards the airport from Hobart CBD and take the slip lane off towards Mornington. There's ample parking most of the time. For those in Hobart without a bike, I'd suggest it's even worth hiring a bike for a day from somewhere such as Roll Cycles and heading out here.
It's possibly to hire a Dual Cab ute and Shingleback bike rack from Bargain Car Rentals for the day too. Book before your holiday to check availability. Use the discount code 'TASUNEARTH' for 7.5% off.
As usual, trailforks has all the info you'll need on the trails in the Meehan Range.
Stepping it down one more time, we now explore a few local trails. I would not recommend travelling to Tasmania solely for any of these. Instead, see them as an added bonus if you're around and in the area. Or if you're a local and somehow don't know about them, go give them a go!
Kelcey Tier
If you've come to Devonport to check out Wild Mersey, you might also want to check out Kelcey Tier for more variety. Trailforks has more detailed information on this.
Cascade Trails
Up the end of Old Farm Road, behind Cascade Brewery in Hobart, Tasmania is a small variety of trails that isn't widely known outside of the locals. Check out some of the trails here.
Tasmania's best mountain riding experience is definitely found at Blue Derby. It's the best purpose built mountain bike park in the state. Possibly even the best park in Australia. If you're unable to make it to Derby, Wild Mersey, Maydena and St Helens are all great options too.
Is mountain biking in Tasmania beginner-friendly?
Absolutely! Tasmania's diverse range of trails caters to all skill levels.
What's the protocol for emergencies on the trail?
Carry a first-aid kit and have emergency contact numbers handy. Inform someone of your planned route and estimated return time.
Is helmet use mandatory while mountain biking?
Yes, wearing a helmet is crucial and often a legal requirement.
Are there facilities for renting mountain biking equipment in Tasmania?
Yes, there are numerous places where you can rent all necessary mountain biking equipment.
What kind of wildlife might I encounter on Tasmanian trails?
You might spot wallabies, wombats, Tasmanian devils, and a plethora of bird species.
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