Mountain biking

Mountain biking

Rid­ing a moun­tain bike is a great way to expe­ri­ence the beau­ty of SA’s parks, as well as pro­vid­ing sig­nif­i­cant health ben­e­fits to rid­ers. Whether it’s a casu­al ride along the shared use trails through Belair Nation­al Park, explor­ing the pop­u­lar Craig­burn farm trails in Sturt Gorge Recre­ation Park or test­ing your endurance on the Maw­son trail, there is sure to be an expe­ri­ence to suit you.

Adelaide mountain bike trails

Which parks can I ride in?

To find out which nation­al parks have spe­cif­ic moun­tain bik­ing trails use our find a park tool and refine your search to ​‘Moun­tain biking’.

For more inspi­ra­tion check out these arti­cles from the Good Liv­ing blog: 

Where can I down­load trail maps?

Down­load­able pdf maps are avail­able for many of our parks. Go to the park page of the park you are vis­it­ing and click on the maps tab to down­load the pdf’s.

If you have a smart­phone or tablet you can down­load the free Aven­za PDF Map app and have inter­ac­tive nation­al park maps on hand when you need them.

How do I choose a trail to suit me?

Trails in parks which are suit­able for cycling are shown on trail­head infor­ma­tion maps and park infor­ma­tion pages along with their dif­fi­cul­ty. Most trails will also have signs to show this. The table below describes the trail dif­fi­cul­ty rat­ing system.

Mountain bike trail difficulty rating system

Mountain bike trail difficulty rating system Easy Trails
 Wide trail with gen­tle gra­di­ent and smooth sur­face. Some obsta­cles such as roots, logs, and rocks. Suit­able for begin­ner cyclists with basic moun­tain bike skills, and off road bikes.
Mountain bike trail difficulty rating system Easy with Intermediate Sections
 Like­ly to be sin­gle track with a mod­er­ate gra­di­ent, vari­able sur­face and some obsta­cles. Some obsta­cles such as roots, logs, and rocks. Suit­able for moun­tain bik­ers with moun­tain bikes.
Mountain bike trail difficulty rating system Intermediate trails
 Sin­gle trail with mod­er­ate gra­di­ents, vari­able sur­face, and obsta­cles. May include steep sec­tions. Suit­able for skilled moun­tain bik­ers with moun­tain bikes.
Mountain bike trail difficulty rating system Intermediate with Difficult Sections
 Suit­able for com­pe­tent moun­tain bik­ers used to phys­i­cal­ly demand­ing routes. Expect large unavoid­able obsta­cles and fea­tures. Chal­leng­ing and vari­able with some steep climbs or descents and loose surfaces.
Mountain bike trail difficulty rating system Difficult
 Suit­able for expe­ri­enced moun­tain bik­ers used to phys­i­cal­ly demand­ing routes. Nav­i­ga­tion and per­son­al sur­vival skills are high­ly desire­able. Expect large, dan­ger­ous and unavoid­able obsta­cles and fea­tures. Chal­leng­ing and vari­able with some steep climbs or descents and loose sur­faces. Some sec­tions will be eas­i­er to walk.

Trail users code of practice

To pro­tect the sur­round­ing envi­ron­ment and to ensure the safe­ty of all rid­ers and shared trail users, please be aware of the Trail Users Code of Prac­tice when using shared trails. Impor­tant points to remem­ber include:

  • plan your ride
  • com­ply with all signs
  • ride only on formed tracks/​trails
  • share the trail — obey give way rules
  • avoid rid­ing in wet, mud­dy conditions
  • ride light­ly and leave no trace or rubbish
  • con­trol your bike with­in your limits
  • clean your bike to avoid the spread of weeds or plant diseases
  • car­ry suf­fi­cient food and drink­ing water
  • respect the rights of others
  • tell oth­ers about the code

DEW.​mtb@​sa.​gov.​au