Home to some of Australia’s most challenging gravity trails, Maydena has built up quite a reputation, and for a good reason. Many of the trails running down the 820m tall Abbotts Peak are built to push the rider and bike to their limit, with steep technical lines and jumps that loft riders into the stratosphere.
With so much terrain aimed squarely at highly skilled riders, Maydena is growing from strength to strength, attracting riders from near and far; however, following the acquisition of a few additional parcels on the lower slopes of the mountain, the bike park has started to show its softer side.
Watch as Maydena MTB Coach Laura Craft takes us through the bike parks new beginner trails.
“We had access to a pretty big hill that’s rugged and steep, and the top of the hill is more suited to advanced trails. Putting in beginner trail on a hill like that requires a whole lot of trail to create the modest gradients you need, and they all would have been too long,” says Dirt Art Managing Director Simon French. “We may have done things in reverse to what you may have found with the majority of other destinations, but it was the best strategy for us.”
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- Check out our complete guide to Maydena, Tas
French tells Flow that they always had plans to bring beginner and family-friendly trails to the table, but were delayed by various factors, including the process of purchasing the lower section of the mountain. However, following the Tasmanian border closure during Covid, Dirt Art moved construction of the beginner trails to the top of its to-do list.
We started from the top; now we are here.
This new section of the network comprises beginner and intermediate level trails, providing a good introduction to riders who may not quite be ready to head for the summit.
To access this new beginner area, riders can either pedal up a mellow arterial climbing trail called Giddy Up, which ascends 200-vertical-meters and is complete with the opportunity to jump off the side and create different loops of singletrack. All up French tells us they have built about 10km of trail for this section of the park, and have a further 10km in the works.
Maydena Bike Park lower mountain shuttles
The other option is to jump on the new lower mountain uplift, where riders pile into a Troopy or an ATV and are whisked to the top of the beginner area in style. From here, you and your mini-shredders can tackle Dirt Surfer, Maydena’s latest descending trail, designed to help new riders, both big and small, develop confidence on the bike.
“We wanted to really cater to the absolute beginner, and with that, we didn’t want to force them to have to climb the lower part of the mountain. We felt that 400m (vertical) was a bit too much for absolute beginners (to climb), which necessitated the lower mountain uplift,” French says.
The last piece of the beginner-friendly puzzle at Maydea is the new lower mountain jump park. Made up of intermediate level table tops and rollers, this jump line provides the ideal venue for new riders who want safely learn the skills needed to get a bit of air under their tyres.
With the town around the bike park having limited tourist infrastructure, the bike park’s base area has a full-service bike shop and licenced cafe, slinging hot pizza, pies, milkshakes, and cold beer. New for this year will be a second restaurant that will focus on smaller plates, has lounges and pool tables, and is set to stay open late.
Bike school and rentals
For parents who want to take a few runs for themselves or whole families that want to improve their skills on the bike together, Maydena offers a full-service bike school for pedallers of every level. To ensure you’re using the right tool to maximise fun, Maydena also offers bike rentals, with everything from kids bikes to double-crown DH weapons in their fleet. Maydena has just landed a full range of Commencal 20-24in kids bikes, a few 12in balance bikes and are offering rentals to fit every budget.
Before the trails on the lower mountain, there was most definitely a hole in Maydean’s offering; this new section of the bike park means there are trails that will bring smiles to everyone’s faces from the groms on balance bikes the seasoned EWS pro looking for a challenge.
Getting there
Maydena is situated an hour-and-a-half from Hobart airport and is worth a trip just for the drive out there. Be sure to stop for supplies on the way as there is no grocery store when you arrive; your last chance is the Woolworths in New Norfolk.
Are you planning a trip to Tassie when the border opens in December? Click here, sit back and enjoy a playlist of all our Tasmanian videos. Or check out more of our coverage on Maydena Bike Park.
Presenter and MTB Coach — Laura Craft @laura_jsc
Producer, videographer, editor – Jasper Da Seymour @jdaseymour
Second camera, snack provider, kid hype coordinator – George Segda @georgesegda_
This Flow MTB project was made possible with support from Tourism Tasmania.