The 4 best parks for children to explore by bike

The ben­e­fits of moun­tain bik­ing with kids are endless. 

Not only is it a great way to explore nature, it’s also great for kids’ men­tal health, improves their coor­di­na­tion and bal­ance, helps build con­fi­dence and is an excel­lent way to improve fit­ness and strength.

South Aus­tralia boasts some of the most spec­tac­u­lar parks which are the per­fect back­drop to teach your chil­dren to ride safe­ly, enjoy nature and explore our nation­al parks.

Here are 4 parks per­fect for kids learn­ing to moun­tain bike. And with school hol­i­days under­way, now’s the best time to try one!

1. Cob­bler Creek

Cob­bler Creek Recre­ation Park, locat­ed 19km north of Ade­laide, is per­fect for intro­duc­ing kids to moun­tain bik­ing. Try the Begin­ners’ Cir­cuit or Easy Does It moun­tain bik­ing trails. KAF­NAR­FA as anoth­er great short ride for kids learn­ing to ride. 

The pump track is per­fect for kids and is sit­u­at­ed right next to the Kites and Kestrels play­ground, which offers a shel­tered pic­nic area and toilets.

2. Shep­herds Hill

Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park, locat­ed just 11km south of Ade­laide, con­tains 16km of moun­tain bike trails. 

The fam­i­ly-friend­ly green cir­cle loops are great to start on, before pro­gress­ing to the short but tough cross-coun­try loops and fun inter­me­di­ate down­hill runs. The park even has a safe and easy area where chil­dren can prac­tice and expe­ri­ence rid­ing on dirt. 

You can ride your bike on all ser­vice tracks or use the spe­cif­ic cycling trails and tracks on offer in Shep­herds Hill Recre­ation Park. For the more adven­tur­ous chil­dren, the bicy­cle jumps-track offers lots of thrills.

3. Belair

Belair Nation­al Park, locat­ed 13km south-east of Ade­laide, has a great range of trails for every­one, from begin­ners to more expe­ri­enced riders. 

The park is eas­i­ly acces­si­ble direct­ly from pub­lic trans­port – from North Ter­race in Ade­laide you and your fam­i­ly can ride the train all the way there with your bikes. Take the kids for a ride around the fire trails from Play­ford Lake to the adven­ture playground.

4. Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta

Check out the 8km of trails in the for­mer O’Halloran Hill Recre­ation Park sec­tion of Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta, locat­ed 16km south of Ade­laide. The trails use the steep­er parts of the park to pro­vide some great down­hill options for chil­dren from begin­ners right through to more expe­ri­enced thrill-seekers.

The park’s trails have some unique names includ­ing Grom Flow, which is per­fect for kids and begin­ner rid­ers, Syl­van­ian Fam­i­lies, which is a great way to enjoy a ride with the family.

Check out the Glen­thorne Nation­al Park-Itya­mai­it­pin­na Yarta trails map for more infor­ma­tion.

The kids will love the new adven­ture play­ground near­by which makes the per­fect loca­tion for a post-ride picnic!

Just remem­ber, bike rid­ing in parks is per­mit­ted on des­ig­nat­ed tracks and trails. Where these are shared-use tracks, watch out for and be cour­te­ous to oth­er rid­ers, hors­es, and walkers. 

Remem­ber to ride safe­ly and stick to trails with­in your capa­bil­i­ties. If you’re com­plete­ly new to moun­tain bik­ing, there are some great com­pa­nies that offer begin­ner lessons to get you going!

Ready to hit the trails? Check out these handy tips for how to moun­tain bike safe­ly in our nation­al parks or watch our video on the basics of moun­tain bik­ing.