Bikes, beaches and beers, the holy trinity of Australian mountain biking destinations and what you can expect from the Anglesea mountain bike trails, in Victoria.
The trails are surprisingly good, with old school singletrack, tweaked and improved, and set in a coastal landscape. Think sandstone like trail and rock, costal scrub, grasstrees and bushland.
The trails are well signed and cater to beginners, intermediates and advanced riders. The style of trail is very much an XC/Trail riding experience.
Why Ride the Anglesea Mountain Bike Trails?
Anglesea has been home to adventure activities and trail based events for many years. This includes adventure racing, trail running and mountain bike race events.
The town is no stranger to outdoor sports enthusiasts coming to visit and has an ideal landscape of sea, beach, and hinterland hills, to keep the events challenging.
Anglesea is located about 1hr 40 minutes from Melbourne and about 35 minutes from Geelong. Anglesea is a small coastal town, popular with day-trippers looking to explore the Great Ocean Road or extended stay holidaymakers.
It is only in the last 10 years or so that Mountain biking became relevant for visitors. This is largely due to the work done with the local club; council various stakeholders to formalized the trails.
Eumeralla MTB Trails
This work has created a solid selection of XC/trail singletrack in the Eumeralla track network area. They have that 90’s vibe about them, and remind me of trails in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, during that era.
These formalized trails have options for all riding abilities. The trails are well signed, there are available maps and appears to be regular trail maintenance.
Greens and Blues are the bulk of the trail grading, easy to introduce new riders, yet challenging enough for intermediate bikers.
Area 9 MTB Trails
Not sure if this is the official name, however it has been listed as Area 9, and is on the west side of the Great Ocean Road, next to the Eumeralla trail network. All information suggests that these trails are not sanctioned, yet.
The trails are more Blue and Black in difficulty. You can find detail and follow the trails using the Trailforks app, if you are up for some exploring.
Note, that due to their unsanctioned nature, there is no signage and also no formal trail maintenance.
Anglesea MTB Park
The town has a MTB park with a 4x course, dirt jumps and plenty of berms, to dial your cornering. Also included is a skills area and short singletrack loop – great introduction for new riders. This park is close to the main shops in town and well maintained by the local club.
Top Trails to Ride in the Anglesea Mountain Bike Park
The trailhead for the mountain bike park is easy to find, right off the Great Ocean Rd and Hurst Rd. There is dedicated car park, map and trail information and wheel/shoe wash to prevent spread of Phytophthora, a fungus that destroys native plants.
Using the map or Trailforks app, and the trail signage, you can easily navigate the park.
Some standout trails include ‘The Flying Scotsman’ which follows a twisty ribbon of fast, and slightly technical trail, with a couple of drops and rocks to pick through.
‘The Great Escape’ is also a fun, fast trail that spits you out on Hurst rd., for a very short climb back to the carpark.
Another is ‘Grasstrees’, which as the name suggests, weaves it way through, a field of Grass Trees. A unique range of flora, particularly for trails in these coastal environments.
Future Development of the Anglesea MTB Trails Network
Trails in general, are identified as an important fixture to the tourism product for the Barwon South West Region, which includes Anglesea, but also other MTB areas such as the You Yangs and Forrest.
There are a number of documents floating around that highlight the importance of quality mountain biking trails and the economic benefits that they bring to the towns and regions that host them.
Anglesea is no different and the work to get the Eumeralla trails sanctioned is a great step forward to increase participation and visitors to the area.
Concept plans have been undertaken to take the Anglesea trails to the next level, however as with many Government projects, these take time. Especially given the number of land managers and stakeholders involved and various impact studies to be undertaken.
If the plans get the green light, the approved trail network will go from 30km to 100km+ of signed trail.
Post Ride Activities – Anglesea MTB Park
The trails and mtb park are close to the town, which makes for an easy option to get a feed, after your ride.
There are some good coffee options here, fish and chips to take down the beach or cafes & pubs, to get your post-ride beer.
For those that want to explore a local Brewery, a bit further down the road, at Aireys Inlet, is Salt Brewery, which is worth the drive.
See below a couple of standouts for Anglesea.
73 Great Ocean Rd, Anglesea
Shop 4, Anglesea Shopping village, 87/89 Great Ocean Rd, Anglesea
1 Simmons Ct, Anglesea
119 Great Ocean Rd, Anglesea
113 Great Ocean Rd, Anglesea
45 Great Ocean Rd, Aireys Inlet
For local bike shop options there is Trailhead Bike Shop, for repairs, spares and a hub for trail information. It even has an onsite barber to keep you looking fresh on the trail.
67 Great Ocean Rd, Anglesea
Final Thoughts: Anglesea Mountain Bike Trails
The trails at Anglesea are a great alternative, especially for riders visiting the Great Ocean Road, from Geelong or surrounds. They offer a different riding experience that that of the You Yangs, but very much an XC/trail ride.
If the ambitions come to fruition, then Anglesea could become a premier destination. With investment placed with a trail builder like World Trail, Dirt Art or similar, the town has a real opportunity to be a must-visit destination like Derby in Tasmania, Bright, Victoria or the new South Coast NSW trail centres of Eden, Narooma and Mogo.
As it stands today, the sanctioned trails lack the elevation for flow style trails, which are an attractive product for destination tourism, to attract riders, to visit.
Fingers crossed that the ongoing advocacy work of the local club continues to keep this top of mind, secure funding and support of the land mangers, to make the wider network a reality.
