Playing in the pagodas | Dual trail projects bringing 100km of trail to Lithgow, NSW


Lithgow has always been known as a bit of an industrial hub, but the small town at the base of the Blue Mountains sits in the heart of some of Australia’s most beautiful terrain.

It has a long history of 4WD and dirtbike adventuring, but despite the epic terrain, it hasn’t typically been a hot spot for mountain bikers. There are plenty of unsanctioned trails in the region that you won’t find on Trailforks, but a new project spearheaded by NSW Parks and Wildlife is set to bring 80km of trail to the newly proclaimed Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. A concurrent project in the State Mine Heritage Park will add a further 25km of trails to the network, bringing the total into the triple digits, serving up a different style of terrain, and providing a crucial connection to the town.

Beyond the epic scenery, Lithgow is a two-hour drive from the centre of Sydney and is also connected via the train. Considering the lack of legal riding spots around what has historically been the largest city in Australia, 100km of professionally constructed, legal trail is a very big deal.

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The Gardens of Stone is packed with pagoda rock formations and massive sandstone cliffs.

What is Gardens of  Stone?

Gardens of Stone is a new reserve added to the NSW National Parks portfolio in May 2022, classed as a state conservation area. This came after years of lobbying by the Gardens of Stone Conservation Alliance that put together the Destination Pagoda proposal.

One of the trails looks down into this amazing steep canyon with the wilderness in the background, and some of the trails are winding in and out of pagodas which are these vertical rock outcrops

This submission outlined a plan to transfer the Newnes State Forest area into a state conservation area, to protect the land and develop a tourism economy using the area’s natural assets.

“The untapped value of Lithgow’s Gardens of Stone backyard lies in the diversity and rarity of its scenery and native flora. These values can be protected and enjoyed by thousands of people through the addition of recreation facilities that will enable families to get close to nature while still being able to have lunch in town,” the proposal said.

NSW Park’s main objective is conservation and protection of representative ecosystems, landforms, natural phenomena or places of cultural significance. However, within the hierarchy of protection, a state conservation area allows scope for development, like mountain bike trails — interestingly, it also allows for some resource extraction like mining and petroleum exploration.

The terrain within the Gardens of Stone SCA is relatively flat, however, dropping down into town through State Mine Gully things get steep.

What’s planned?

The New South Wales Government has allocated $50-million towards the development of tourist infrastructure for the Gardens of Stone. Some of that is going towards things like roads, and just before the new year, Parks announced The Lost City precinct, which will include a zipline, multi-day walk, via ferrata, campsites and more.

“Within that, the intention was to develop mountain biking opportunities and work to have Gardens of Stone become a ride destination. We’re intending to deliver around 80km of cross country and adventure trails within the reserve,” says Shaun Elwood, Principal Project Manager, Blue Mountains Branch of the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.

“The scenery on some of the proposed trails is so unique. One of the trails looks down into this amazing steep canyon with the wilderness in the background, and some of the trails are winding in and out of pagodas which are these vertical rock outcrops,” he continues.

It’s a great concept, but if everything is up the top, there are plenty of other ways to get to that area without actually going through Lithgow. So we need to join those trails with town

While the scenery is nothing short of spectacular, the terrain within the state conservation area is relatively flat. That’s where State Mine Gully comes in.

“The stuff up top is mostly green and blue, a bit more family oriented because that’s what the terrain dictates — it’s fairly flat. Then coming off the escarpment, we’ll put in more descending type trails,” says Craig Flynn from the Central Tablelands Mountain Bike Club.

Elwood tells us the trails will weave in and out of the pagodas. There are some pretty interesting ways you could use these rock formations or parts of them as trail features.

State Mine Gully is an entirely different project that’s a collaboration between the Central Tablelands Mountain Bike Club, the Lithgow Council and NSW Parks.

This plot near Lithgow is not new to mountain bikers. Glen Jacobs from World Trail recalls riding downhill races here 20 years ago, and Flynn tells us they used to run races here regularly. State Mine Gully provides that much-needed elevation drop to construct descending trails, but it also delivers the all-important link to town.

“After World Trail had put together their concept plan, I turned to the guys from parks and said, look, it’s a great concept, but if everything is up the top, there are plenty of other ways to get to that area without actually going through Lithgow. So we need to join those trails with town,” says Flynn.

As all of this was happening, the NSW Government announced a round of tourism grants, and the Club, Council and Parks decided to explore the opportunity to fund that linkage to Lithgow. And just before Christmas, word came that they’d be receiving $3.5-million from the NSW Government’s Regional Tourism Activation Fund, adding another 25km of trails.

“From a trail perspective, there are gravity products with the opportunity for shuttles and wilderness products, and the terrain works really well for it. It would do amazing things for the town,” says Jacobs.

While the Gardens of Stone SCA is in close proximity to Lithgow, you can get there without going through town. Stage Mine Gully provides that link.

At the base of the State Mine Gully area is an old mining museum, and the hope is for this to serve as the trailhead. Flynn tells Flow they have run events out of here in the past, and the hope is to utilise this as the hub where folks will gather to start their rides, buy shuttle tickets and the like.

“The opportunities out here, between State Mine Gully and the Garden of Stone, are pretty broad. Some of it’s going to be quite constrained because of the landscape features, and some of it is in areas that have previously been used for pine plantation and are now cleared. They’re going to be able to build with a fair bit of artistic licence,” says Elwood.

We asked Elwood to clarify what he meant by artistic license, and because this area is a former plantation and is pre-disturbed, he told Flow it could mean anything from jump trails, to highly sculpted, 3D bikepark style singletrack — the sky is the limit.

So there will be your family-orientated stuff in the National Park, your weekend warrior stuff linking up to that and then your gravity trails on the other side of town.

While Lithgow may not be top of mind for mountain bikers, it is popular for motorsports and there are an estimated 700km of tracks and trails in the area. World Trail took this into account in its concept design, in an effort to stop any conflict between the user groups before it starts.

“It’s well known for adventure 4WDing, and there is a maze of dirt bike trails out there. We’ve purposely avoided them as much as possible. There is a lot of culture around that in Lithgow, and it’s been around that area forever, and a lot of people live in the area to be close to that, and we don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” says Jacobs

Room to grow

Over the holidays, The Central West Village Voice community newspaper proclaimed “Lithgow to be the new home of mountain biking” on its cover. With 100km of legal trail, Lithgow would be one of the largest ride centres in NSW. But the Gardens of Stone isn’t the only thing bubbling away for mountain bikers on the western side of the Blue Mountains.

“Council has put in a concept study for some gravity trails on the other side of town. So there will be your family-orientated stuff in the National Park, your weekend warrior stuff linking up to that and then your gravity trails on the other side of town,” says Flynn.

This is the Wolgan Valley, the area Parks is currently working to route a multi-day bike-packing route through. Excuse us, we have to go scrape our jaws off the floor.

Parks is also exploring the possibility of a multi-day riding option, connecting Lithgow to the Hunter Valley on the western side of Wollemi National Park.

“So basically, you have got Lithgow, to Gardens of Stone, to Wollemi/Glen Alice. On the western side of Wollemi leads up to places like Dunns Swamp, or Mudgee is out to the west a little bit futher, and then you go right to the top of Wollemi National Park,” says Elwood.

This aspect of the project is still in the early stages of planning, with Parks evaluating options for getting through the Wolgan Valley. The goal is to have a 100km point-to-point route that runs almost exclusively through National Parks on fire roads, and trails, avoiding public roads as much as possible.

Leasing to private partners

As we were reporting this story, a number of headlines were published about the NSW State Government’s proposals to grant leases to two subsidiaries of Experience Co and an ASX-listed adventure tourism company.

The first is for Wild Bush Luxury Pty Ltd to construct luxury accommodation along the proposed multi-day walk. The second is for Trees Adventure Holdings Pty Ltd to develop ziplines, via ferrata and a suspension bridge. Both leases would be for a 20-year term.

The Plan of Management for the Gardens of Stone SCA, which was published in May 2022 outlines plans for both the accommodation and the high-ropes developments, and notes each could be “operated under lease by a private sector partner.”

The plan of management also notes each, “will be subject to environmental and cultural assessment processes as specified under the EP&A Act”

All of this is also outlined in the Master Plan for the Gardens of Stone SCA, which was also finalised back in May 2022 — which again notes this is all “subject to appropriate cultural heritage and environmental impact assessment.”

Parks has been clear about its intention to develop a zip-line and luxury hiker accommodation, and bring in private operators since the Gardens of the Stone was declared an SCA. However, the lack of detail about the terms of the lease, and opening the comment period during the holidays is bound to raise questions.

According to the Plan of Management, the park contains a significant number of threatened vegetation communities, plants and animals, but a detailed understanding of the values of these communities and threats to them is not yet in place.

The details of the leases can be found on the NSW Parks website, and there isn’t a whole lot of specifics, nor is the development proposal for either publicly available. Parks also set the public submission period from December 21-Jan 18.

These last three points have folks upset, including some of the groups who contributed to the Destination Pagoda proposal — which specifically outlines tourism activities like hiking, camping, mountain biking, and rock climbing.

While the intention to develop ziplines and hiker accommodation, and potentially bring in private operators has been present in the documentation that underpins the Gardens of Stone SCA since they were out for public comment — and has received similar criticism. Even still, from the outside looking in, the lack of detail about the terms contained within this pair of lease agreements — and what happens if the eco and cultural assessments do not support these developments — and posting the comment period over the holidays is not a great look.

Turning a new page for NSW Parks and mountain biking

In November last year, NSW Parks released its new Cycling Strategy, which outlines the process of building, sanctioning and closing mountain bike trails on land managed by Parks. When it was published, we predicted that it would be a catalyst for more riding opportunities in national parks.

The planning for the mountain bike element of the Gardens of Stone development had been going on prior to November last year — a trail network is mentioned in the Destination Pagoda proposal that was published in 2019 — Elwood notes the Cycling Strategy helped to move things along.

Gardens of Stone may not have the steeps, but it more than makes up for it in its unique rock features and scenery. This won’t be your shreddy enduro-type trail network, but Parks has something pretty special planned here.

“The intention was always to develop mountain biking opportunities and work to have Gardens of Stone become a ride destination prior to the final release of the Mountain Biking Strategy and the planning behind it. But it certainly did assist, inform and help us with what we were working through and looking at establishing,” he explains.

For a long time, Parks has been seen as the boogie man to mountain bikers and trail builders — for good reason. While individual rangers on the ground may have been amenable to riding within parks, the decision-makers historically weren’t. After news about Glenrock and the Illawarra Escarpment, and now Gardens of Stone, that seems to be changing.

“It’s a complete about-face, and I’m still a little bit shocked,” says Flynn. “National Parks have totally changed their approach and have started to engage the mountain bike community in a more positive manner. And because of that, we’re going to have 100km of singletrack right on Sydney’s doorstep.”

When can you ride here?

With the funding for State Mine Gully just approved, World Trail has done its concept design and ground-truthed everything for both sites. Elwood and his team still need to work through the environmental and cultural approvals, and the planning process and planning approvals. He tells Flow he expects that should be wrapped up in the middle of this year, and Parks intends to commence construction shortly after, with the first trail opening in 2024.


Photos: NSW Parks and Wildlife, Destination NSW

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