155km of trails for Mogo, NSW!

With new trail announcements around the country filling news pages, internet forums and social media feeds, those in New South Wales have been feeling a little left out. But today the Eurobodalla Shire Council announced Rocky Trail Destination as the project lead agency for the new Mogo Adventure Trail Hub (MATH) development on the NSW South Coast. 

The plan is to have the resulting network and adventure trail hub to be a significant destination for Australia. That means, somewhere we'll all want to visit, with a range of trails to cater for begeinners, intermediate riders and advanced riders as well.

With 155km of planned trails in the networks, 125km of this will be new trails, with the current 30km in Mogo State Forest and Deep Creek Dam being formalised and brought into the networks. The total network will connect Mogo and Batehaven, as part of the approved master plan from 2020.

With a projected cost of $8 million, $5 million will come from a grant from the NSW and Australian governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund, with the other $3 million grant from the NSW Government’s Growing Local Economies fund.

Rocky Trail Destination

You may know Juliane and Martin Wisata from the Rocky Trail Entertainment events up and down the east coast of Australia. The pair understand the positive impact that nature- and trail-based activities in Mogo have had, via delivering events in the region since 2018. Through founding Rocky Trail Destination with Joe Mullan, the group will focus on nature-based tourism development.

"We are confident to deliver the project for the benefit of all stakeholders, supporting the local Eurobodalla Shire Council and community for the new tourism and recreation asset to sustainably complement the region’s richness of existing experiences", said Project Leader Martin Wisata and confirmed that the team had appointed Next Level Mountain Bike as the principal construction partner. 

Trails designer Marcelo Cardona, founder of Next Level Mountain Bike, will head up the construction operations in Mogo.

"We feel it is a privilege to build trails in the diverse natural environment of Mogo and take our responsibilities very seriously, working with environmental respect. We will deliver the latest and best international standards in trail building for the enjoyment of mountain bikers of all skill levels. Through working alongside the innovative team at Rocky Trail Destination, we will create the most progressive trail network in the country", Marcelo Cardona said.

Juliane Wisata said that the team will see the Mogo trail and tourism destination development project through from start to finish, to make sure the trail hub and project is valuable for the long term.

Adds Joe Mullan, "The new trail network in Mogo will excite visiting and local outdoor experience enthusiasts and mountain bike riders especially. We will help establish a tourism asset that will be a catalyst for the local community to thrive, providing socio-economic benefits across all local community and business sectors in the Eurobodalla."

AMB's take

New trail announcements aren't uncommon, and this is a smart move with the expertise from an events company coming to work with trail development. While mountain bike events aren't for all mountain bikers, a mountain bike event can be a driving reason to visit a new location. So having Martin and Juliane Wisata bringing their expertise in event delivery to destination planning is a great move. With a dedicated trail builder at the shovel end of the plan, we expect that Mogo will become a must-ride destination for many Australian mountain bikers. Add lots of trails to a coastal setting and NSW's beautiful South Coast – what more do you need?

You can get more details on the whole project right here.