High Country Bike Track

The cooler summer temperatures and beautiful alpine scenery make the Victorian High Country an ideal summer adrenaline mountain adventure, putting ‘mountain’ in mountainbiking.

At the gateway to the Victorian High Country is Mt Buller. With its village located at the top of the mountain, it offers breathtaking mountain vistas. Feeling on top of the world, it has world class-trails that wind around the village and through the twisted snowgums. You can ride over to neighbouring Mt Stirling via the challenging Stonefly and down the Delatite River trail to Mirimbah at the base of the mountain, 9km of fantastic downhill including many log river crossings and stunning scenery. Shuttles from Mirimbah run on weekends until the end of April.

On the resort, the fast, fun and flowy Copperhead trail and three other downhill trails can be accessed by the chairlift which runs daily from 26 December to 27 January. New this year will be modular pump track set up in the village. You’ll need more than a few days to explore the extensive trail network on offer at Buller.

With the work of Glenn Jacobs and the World Trail crew over the past seven years, Mt Buller was announced Australia’s first International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) endorsed Ride Centre. An exclusive international club of world class cross-country riding with large scale mountainbike facilities for all levels and abilities. Mt Buller’s latest project is the Epic Mountain

Bike Trail Project, a 40 km descending cross-country trail. With construction commencing in December 2013, the trail should be ready for summer 2014/15.

A bit further north, the all-season alpine resort of Falls Creek is well into its four year strategy to expand its summer mountainbiking offering. Glenn Jacobs and World Trail are building over 65km of cross-country and downhill on the resort. This summer three trails are being launched for mountainbiking: an easy and an intermediate cross-country trail and an intermediate downhill trail. With more trails opening in December 2014 and December 2015, Falls Creek are making the most of some of Australia’s most inspirational mountainbiking terrain. Blue Dirt will run weekend shuttles until the end of April and the Summit chair will run on select weekends in conjunction with major events.

There is also an extensive range of back-country trails and many picturesque historic cattlemen’s huts that are in easy riding distance from the resort. Add to that 30 plus km of aqueduct trails and 50km of all- mountain riding from Falls Creek to Mt Beauty and you could spend weeks riding at Falls Creek.

Down the road from Falls Creek and at the base of Mt Bogong, is Victoria’s highest mountain, Mt Beauty. It has long been the home of mountainbiking in Victoria, and host to numerous state and national rounds and many other cross-country and downhill events. The aptly named Big Hill Mountain Bike Park has a diverse range of quality technical trails and great flow trails that add to the thrilling downhill runs, all with stunning views, down the Kiewa Valley.

Most of Mt Beauty is really technical and tight. Then there are some really open, fast-flowing trails. The park is ever evolving. Bernie McArdle has been building trails for a long time and is still bob-catting through the park constructing trails, utilising the area and the terrain. There are always new features and it’s all just a short ride from town.

With such amazing terrain, it’s no wonder Mt Beauty produces many mountainbiking professionals including the current short track cross-country world champion.

Being at the bottom of the mountains, you know you’re going to be in for a bit of a climb. But the views and the great downhill trails make it worthwhile. Alternatively, get someone to drop you at the top of the park for a downhill thrill.