I have been checking out the old threads but there is not much up to date info on trails around Coffs or Woolgoolga. I am heading on a road trip over the week of the long weekend heading up the coast from Nowra to Coffs and back again. Planning on riding pine forest in Armidale then cows with guns at Coffs and heading over to Grafton to BomBom for the day. Will be based at Woolgoolga so was hoping to find some trails close with in riding distance as well. I have previously been exploring heaps of fire trails in the area and I know there is heaps of motor bike trails so there must be some cool MTB tracks. If anyone has any local knowledge it would be greatly appreciated. After the week in coffs heading back to Gosford and umina beach area for the weekend as well there has got to be some trails worth riding on the way past. Cheers Guys
Coffs Woolgoolga Trails?
- Thread starter Tigger75
- Start date
marc.r
Likes Dirt
I would also be interested in this as I have family up that way.
Heaps of hills and heaps of state forrest. I usually just head up (or down) gentle annie and then just start exploring firetrails. I have absolutely killed myself on some. Some of the old tracks up there are so torn up by erosion / overgrowth they can be fun. did I mention some of the hills. I swear to god one trail I had to hike a bike up what seemed to be a 50 degree gradient for about 600m straight. so steep that I had to use the bike a a frame and drag myself on hands and knees to stop myself sliding back down steep. easy to do 1000m climbing days and im no athlete!
Im not a big fan of cows with guns but surely there is something in the region that actually utilizes the hills for more of an all mountain experiance other then just the mt coramba downhill!
pm me all the secret trails people!
Heaps of hills and heaps of state forrest. I usually just head up (or down) gentle annie and then just start exploring firetrails. I have absolutely killed myself on some. Some of the old tracks up there are so torn up by erosion / overgrowth they can be fun. did I mention some of the hills. I swear to god one trail I had to hike a bike up what seemed to be a 50 degree gradient for about 600m straight. so steep that I had to use the bike a a frame and drag myself on hands and knees to stop myself sliding back down steep. easy to do 1000m climbing days and im no athlete!
Im not a big fan of cows with guns but surely there is something in the region that actually utilizes the hills for more of an all mountain experiance other then just the mt coramba downhill!
pm me all the secret trails people!
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There is not much "mtb specific" single track around woolgoolga. I spend christmas/new years up there very year. Best bet is to head up to bombom like you said or down to the mtb trails just south of coffs.
But you can do a good ride out of whoopi around the dirt tracks on the edge of the lake then make your way North up along the coast through Mullaway and to Arrawarra and then return the same way. Bit of a mix of single, twin track and bitchumen.
But you can do a good ride out of whoopi around the dirt tracks on the edge of the lake then make your way North up along the coast through Mullaway and to Arrawarra and then return the same way. Bit of a mix of single, twin track and bitchumen.
Woolgoolga is fire roads and moto trails, no MTB stuff.
There are heaps of good loops in our area, you'll need to drive to them though.
-Cows with Guns in Bonville also adjoins the soon to be logged Pine Creek trail. It is opposite the Sawmill on Glennifer road in Bonville.
-Just south of Coffs is Nambucca. To find this trail you need to turn off into Nambucca onto Link road then turn right onto the Old Coast Road. Follow that onto a dirt road then hook a left onto Jacks Ridge road and you'll see the carpark.
-North of Coffs is the Bom Bom forest which we call the Grafton trail. It's easy to find, just turn left into Lilypool road before you hit south Grafton and cruise along until you see a cattle grid and some forest signs. The carpark is just beyond the cattle grid.
I ride all of these trails weekly and run the downhill club. We have massive potential for more trails and some are coming along but not just yet. Some of the hills are too steep for loops or just not the right area so you'd be surprised as to how limited the trail areas are. We get tons of rain here so anything with a gradient requires a lot of protection so it doesn't channel water along it and in saying that, it's enough work for me to keep our main downhill trail in tip top shape.
Now, as for the XC loops, this is my preference to ride. Keep in mind I ride downhill, am pretty leg strong and well skilled. I'm not a fan of square corners and trails that are just slalom between trees.
1) Grafton - This trail has long corners that can be ridden slow or fast. Most of the trail is up and down with some magic sections through dry creek beds. It's so much fun to ride and isn't a taxing lap.
2) Nambucca - It has more hill section than Grafton but has the same flow appeal. The lap is more taxing but so much fun to hit up. It has no big line choices but you can hit some sections really fast and land beyond the landing area and make your own way through it.
3) Pine Creek - This is traditionally a moto trail and has ruts and some steep pinches out of those ruts. If you can't ride corners no brakes and carry speed to get out some lines then you'll hate this track. As a warning, don't go there in the wet! The holes fill up and you'll have no idea how deep they are. It's a slippery surface too so pedalling any inclines can get slippery.
4) Cows with Guns - I put this at the bottom because all the other trails have caught up to it and overtaken it in terms of pleasure. It has the original creek line under the trees which is one of the best section of trail in Australia but some sections that have been made over the last few years just to add kilometers to the trail are tight, square, narrow and not rewarding of any skill other than being a skinny little weiner with flat 445mm handlebars. That ain't mountain biking, that's torture. When you consider some of these sections were cleared with a damn bobcat and the end result is a three inch wide line climbing (........climbing!) off camber thing of pooh. A brush cutter would have done the job. Anyway, you can avoid the boring bits and stick with the outside loop.
You can spend a day at each of these trails and love it. If you want a challenge, ride up Mt Coramba road (dirt road) and bomb the downhill trail. The climb is easy and the descent is bliss.
Hit me up if you need any more info.
There are heaps of good loops in our area, you'll need to drive to them though.
-Cows with Guns in Bonville also adjoins the soon to be logged Pine Creek trail. It is opposite the Sawmill on Glennifer road in Bonville.
-Just south of Coffs is Nambucca. To find this trail you need to turn off into Nambucca onto Link road then turn right onto the Old Coast Road. Follow that onto a dirt road then hook a left onto Jacks Ridge road and you'll see the carpark.
-North of Coffs is the Bom Bom forest which we call the Grafton trail. It's easy to find, just turn left into Lilypool road before you hit south Grafton and cruise along until you see a cattle grid and some forest signs. The carpark is just beyond the cattle grid.
I ride all of these trails weekly and run the downhill club. We have massive potential for more trails and some are coming along but not just yet. Some of the hills are too steep for loops or just not the right area so you'd be surprised as to how limited the trail areas are. We get tons of rain here so anything with a gradient requires a lot of protection so it doesn't channel water along it and in saying that, it's enough work for me to keep our main downhill trail in tip top shape.
Now, as for the XC loops, this is my preference to ride. Keep in mind I ride downhill, am pretty leg strong and well skilled. I'm not a fan of square corners and trails that are just slalom between trees.
1) Grafton - This trail has long corners that can be ridden slow or fast. Most of the trail is up and down with some magic sections through dry creek beds. It's so much fun to ride and isn't a taxing lap.
2) Nambucca - It has more hill section than Grafton but has the same flow appeal. The lap is more taxing but so much fun to hit up. It has no big line choices but you can hit some sections really fast and land beyond the landing area and make your own way through it.
3) Pine Creek - This is traditionally a moto trail and has ruts and some steep pinches out of those ruts. If you can't ride corners no brakes and carry speed to get out some lines then you'll hate this track. As a warning, don't go there in the wet! The holes fill up and you'll have no idea how deep they are. It's a slippery surface too so pedalling any inclines can get slippery.
4) Cows with Guns - I put this at the bottom because all the other trails have caught up to it and overtaken it in terms of pleasure. It has the original creek line under the trees which is one of the best section of trail in Australia but some sections that have been made over the last few years just to add kilometers to the trail are tight, square, narrow and not rewarding of any skill other than being a skinny little weiner with flat 445mm handlebars. That ain't mountain biking, that's torture. When you consider some of these sections were cleared with a damn bobcat and the end result is a three inch wide line climbing (........climbing!) off camber thing of pooh. A brush cutter would have done the job. Anyway, you can avoid the boring bits and stick with the outside loop.
You can spend a day at each of these trails and love it. If you want a challenge, ride up Mt Coramba road (dirt road) and bomb the downhill trail. The climb is easy and the descent is bliss.
Hit me up if you need any more info.
Thanks heaps Dozer just what I wanted. Can find heaps on the trails them self but hard to find directions to the trail head. Definitely planning on doing Bombom, Jacks ridge and Cows with guns the outer loop seems to be the general consensus. How intense is the downhill track? Im riding a 5 inch travel 29er Yeti sb95 wouldn't mind having a look while I'm up that way.
You'll be just fine on the downhill course. The big lines have options but as always, look over the crest before you fly off it. A couple of lines are doubles / gaps that aren't hard to clear but if you shit bricks on the upramp and grab your brakes then you'll surely end up in the ditch. Look first, then leap.