Late last week, NSW Parks and Wildlife dropped a bombshell, releasing the new Mountain Biking Plan for Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area. This new plan lays out tentative details for a 58km trail network, offering all-mountain, cross country and beginner riding experiences.
This comes after the Draft Plan of Management was released back 2021, which left quite a bit to be desired. But, as Sean Hill from the Mill Creek Trail Association puts it, this new plan is a missing piece of the puzzle and a step in the right direction for mountain bikers around Royal National Park.
“Obviously, there are still a lot of details to be worked out, but the fact we have a plan in place that A) allows for mountain biking, and B) has the tentative details for what a trail network should look like — that can only be seen as a positive,” he says. “They’ve (Parks) already come out and said there will be a mountain bike user group which will consult with park management — that’s a positive as well.”
Giant and Shimano Australia Off-Road rider Jon Odams, who has been riding and training at RNP for 20+ years, tells Flow he’s happy to see Parks taking these steps but he isn’t holding his breath.
“Overall it’s a good bit of progress that they’ve put together this document, and it’s great that they’re talking about having mountain bike events and stuff there. But at the same time, such a small amount of action has happened over the last 20-or-so years,” he says. “It’s great that you’ve given us this information, now show us that you’re going to do it.”
Currently, there are 6km of authorised trails at Temptation Creek and East Heathcoat that were sanctioned in 2002 as part of a ‘mountain bike track trial.’ The plan released by Parks acknowledged that this is totally inadequate.
“This mountain biking plan is an opportunity to address the growing needs of mountain bike users in the parks through properly designed, constructed and managed tracks while addressing environmental concern,” the document says.
Related:
- The fastest man this side of Sydney | Jon Odams and the Royal National Park
- Flow Destination Hub: Royal National Park, NSW
- New draft plan of management for Sydney’s Royal National Park is a mixed bag
- NSW Parks and Wildlife launch new Cycling Strategy, so what is it all about?
Trying to find balance
The plan lays out a proposed network through Temptation Creek, East Heathcote and Helensburgh. Parks has also identified an additional Heathcote NP link zone for future trails.
“Everybody has their own little favourite bit of trail somewhere, and not everybody is going to be happy with what’s there (in the plan),” says Hill. “It was explained to me from Parks themselves that there will probably be some mountain bikers who are upset, and there’ll also be some more conservation-minded people that are also upset with the plan. So if both sides are not happy with some aspects of it, that’s probably about the right balance.”
NSW Parks has also addressed the issue with ongoing maintenance, noting they will shoulder some of the load and engage volunteers to conduct trail care days.
Hill tells us the Mill Creek Trail Association put out a questionnaire on trail maintenance. They received a lot of positive feedback, and many folks were interested in getting on the tools.
As is identified in the Parks plan, this also means that events can be held at RNP.
“The biggest thing is that once you have sanctioned trails, you can run events because, from an insurance perspective, it’s covered,” says Hill. “It makes sense for parks as well, because any time there is an event, they (the organisers) have to kick in some cash, so it’s an income generator for them as well.”
This also opens up for clubs to run official skills clinics and coaching sessions. There’s also the potential for businesses to come in and run e-Bike tours, or whatever else because the trails will now be legal.
Over the years, Parks has gone to a lot of trouble to not, not do anything. I think they’ve finally realised we’re here, and we’re not going away — it’s been 20-odd years. So it’s time to actually set up and deliver.
What’s in the plan for Royal National Park?
The new RNP Mountain Bike plan lays out a 58km network, comprising mainly existing trails, and some new trails catering to a variety of riding experiences across Royal National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area.
The document also lays out plans to close and rehabilitate around 50km of trails.
Parks has also realised that sanctioning a bunch of green-rated garden paths won’t address the issues with illegal trail building, so they’ve added more difficult trails which are appropriate for the setting — as is laid out in the NSW Parks Cycling Strategy from last year. Of the riding experiences the network will cater to, DH is not one, though that shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. The plan also notes the possibility of a trailhead with basic facilities near Temptation Creek.
“A number of people I’ve spoken to have said, ‘well, we’re going to lose some trails and this and that.’ But what I’ve said is ‘how much legal singletrack is there at the moment?’ We’ve got six kilometres, but now we’re going to have 58km, that’s signposted, maintained, and there’s going to be infrastructure built around it.
Starting at the northern end of the park, as it stands, Temptation Creek has 4km of legal trail that will be growing to 22.6km. About 5 km of singletrack will be closed in this area of the network, which, according to the document, are offshoots, shortcuts, and some severely eroded trails. With about a dozen green trails, seven blue, and four black trails.
Parks also says the extremely popular Holy Trail descent will be realigned because it weaves through sensitive areas, and a new climbing trail will be constructed.
The East Heatcoat Zone has two authorised trails and a hair over 20km of unsanctioned singletrack. Within the new plan, there are 13.9km of trails proposed through this area, noting there is the potential to include dirt jumps here. This section will see green and blue trails, including the popular Diggers Ditch and Black Cockatoo Loop to be retained.
In the Helensburgh Zone, there are currently 32km of informal trails, none of which are sanctioned. The plan lays out 23.5km across two areas of exclusively blue and black trail.
The Heathcoat Park Link Zone has 20.3km of trails, none of which are formal, and that’s not going to change as there are still no sanctioned trails set for this area. That said, Parks hasn’t closed the door and notes there is potential for legal trails here in the future.
This zone is essentially a narrow corridor that runs along the Princess Highway and was identified as a potential problem dating back to when the draft plan was released. It’s also one which Hill noted that could be contentious as it forms part of the major connection between the north and south ends of the park.
It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start.
As Hill noted earlier, not everyone on either side will be happy with what Parks has laid out, but there seems to be a good balance.
“Over the years, Parks has gone to a lot of trouble to not, not do anything. I think they’ve finally realised we’re here, and we’re not going away — it’s been 20-odd years. So it’s time to actually set up and deliver,” he says.
Odams is apprehensive about some of the lack of detail in the document and worries about the timeframe required to achieve some of what’s laid out.
“It’s not just Royal National Park, there are so many places around New South Wales that are so far behind all the other states with riding and building suitable trails. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds moving forwards,” he says.
He also tells Flow he’d like to see some detail on directional tracks, and feels there is a missed opportunity not outlining something like a trail that runs parallel to Farnell Avenue, which runs all the way through the National Park or utilising the old derelict tram shed sites for something like jumps or a pump track.
The release of this document marks the start, not the finish, of the journey to an above-board trail network at Royal National Park. All of this still needs to undergo a Review of Environmental Factors, and Parks need to come up with the funding.
“I saw even the Central Coast Mountain Bike Club was putting in a new downhill line at Ourimbah, and they had a post saying they had to go through the exact same thing — and that’s in State Forest. If you build official stuff, you have to follow the process; that’s just the way it is,” he says.
No matter how you slice it, this is a net positive for mountain bikers South of Sydney. Yes, some trails are being closed, but the majority are not, and Parks has not shut the door to adding more. But, now it’s on NSW Parks and Wildlife to follow through and do it in a timely manner.
There have been a lot of folks like Hill working behind the scenes sitting in meetings, and lobbying for sanctioned trails in the park, but it’s also been a significant community effort.
“I’m just really happy that we had so much community support behind us. There were a lot of submissions made during the whole process from people that were passionate about riding in the park and wanted to see something happen. Whether it was just one or two sentences or a big submission, people sat down in front of their computer or on their phone and actually helped this get to where it is now,” he says.
You can read the full Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area Mountain Biking Plan over on the Park’s website.
Photos: Chris Visvis / @chris_visvis