MelroseDestination overview
Constructed in 2005, Melrose is one of Australia’s oldest mountain bike destinations. Almost all of the trails here are on private property, with the Melrose Town Trails situated on the McCallum Family’s land and the Bartagunyah trails within the borders of a winery. But, despite their land tenure, everything is open to the public — woohoo!
Ride old school hand-built trails
The trails around Melrose are hand-built, narrow, and have maintained their old school flair — there hasn’t been much on offer for families and beginners.
That was until the new green and blue trails at Willowie Forest opened in early 2021. There is another family loop on the way at Wirrabara too.
Each year in June, Melrose hosts its annual Fat Tyre Festival. It’s two days of food, music and riding, and your entry fee goes towards keeping the trails at Melrose running.
An Epic on the way, gravel and bikepacking too
Parks SA is currently working on the Mount Remarkable Epic trail, which will start in the Melrose Town Trails and head up for a loop around the summit. Once completed, it will be the only Epic in Australia that starts and finishes in the same spot.
The Mawson Trail also passes through town, and the locals tell us the gravel riding in the area is primo.
Located about three hours north of Adelaide, Melrose is a quaint little town. There are a few places to eat, plenty of accommodation, and they even have a brewery. When you go through Melrose, be sure to pop your head into the local bike shop, Over the Edge Sports, to say hello.
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I visited Melrose to ride the new mt remarkable epic trail and was not disappointed. It’s a decent pedal but the scenery, terrain changes and well built trail is well worth it. Take plenty of food and water. The first 11km is basically all climbing. Definitely recommend doing the full epic loop back to Melrose but the trail ‘bale out’ back to willowie forest is worth riding the 11km climb just to lap that 6km of descending.
The existing trails in Melrose are fun too. Different vibe to the new trails but still good fun if you don’t plan to ride the full epic.
‘Bale out’ is a must ride and best trail here in my opinion. Don’t think it’s just a way home for those that are having second thoughts while starting out on the full epic.