Maydena Bike Park

The Southern Hemisphere’s largest gravity-focused bike park just got larger.

Tucked away in the Derwent Valley, Maydena Bike Park is a mountain biker’s mecca with some 100 trails weaving through rainforest.

Under 90 minutes from Tasmania’s capital city of Hobart is a gravity-focused bike park like no other. It’s become the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and on a typical summer’s day, attracting scores of riders to its wild slopes.

But it wasn’t always this way. It took years for Managing Director Simon French, a mountain biking enthusiast from childhood, to realise his southern Tasmanian dream. Head of renowned trail company, Dirt Art, French has designed and constructed more than 100 trail projects worldwide before navigating the development of Maydena Bike Park in his own backyard.

“Growing up in Tasmania, I always knew there was great potential to create something here,” explains the Hobart-raised rider. “We’ve got incredible wilderness and mountains on a compact island that’s easy to get around, making it well suited for mountain bike tourism.”

Navigating the early steps of securing a site was no easy task. French knew that he was after a sizeable mountain near a town, that was within easy driving distance from Hobart. Maydena proved the ideal fit, though complex with its lease agreements spanning Tasmanian Government, private land and a timber plantation.

“Help from the Office of the Coordinator-General was invaluable,” says French. “Navigating five leases, licensing, access agreements and more was a challenge. They provided us practical support and a level of credibility. By having that government backing, it gave confidence to the other stakeholders.”

The project’s initial stage was self-funded, creating 35 kilometres of gravity trails and installing necessary infrastructure to officially open in January, 2018. Maydena Bike Park then received a co-funded $800k grant to support stage two through the Tasmanian Government’s Cycle Tourism Fund. This funding allowed for employment of 20 construction staff for more than a year to expand the gravity trails to more than 100km.

Already well known for its high adrenalin downhill trails, the grant allowed for French to build upon this reputation by constructing new trails including a top-to-bottom beginner flow trail and 20-kilometre wilderness trail experience. In doing so, the park has since reached a much broader market including young families and those newer to mountain biking.

“We really could not have created this park without the unwavering support from all levels of government as well as stakeholders and the local community,” says French. “Today we have world-class trails that draw riders from all around the globe and up to 1,000 riders for a single event. These riders tend to stay on, increasing bed nights across Tasmania.”

The park now offers options for elite riders, families, beginners and sightseers. With bike hire, tours, retail store, Bike School for upskilling with professional riders, and two restaurants, there’s good reason riders flock to Maydena. Add to this a bus service that ferries visitors 820 metres in elevation to the trail head, there’s no need for uphill pedalling either.

“We’re excited with our future plans,” adds French. “We’ll have our high-end restaurant open by next summer, as well as local beer, wine and spirit tastings. Hiking trails are in the planning, as well as more events. From a tourism and economic perspective this is great because our riders tend to eat, stay and play longer in regional Tasmania.”

French has eight full-time permanent staff to assist in the operation of the park. During peak season, casual staff numbers swell to 30 to support the busy days when some 300 riders are on the trails and more than a hundred non-riders are enjoying the park. Despite the park’s success, the evolution of the business has not been without its challenges.

“There are always barriers in any industry. When we started out the mountain biking market was quite young which we saw as a risk, wondering if we’d have the critical mass to make it viable,” explains French. “We knew we’d have to invest in quality infrastructure and create something very unique to draw people down here and carve out a niche. Tourism Tasmania have done a fantastic job with the likes of the Unordinary Adventures Campaign to build the profile of mountain biking in Tasmania.”

French closes in saying, “without having that pathway through the Office of the Coordinator-General to assist with our complicated tenure and without government support at all levels, we may never have got this project off the ground. Now we’re part of the offering that positions Tasmania in the minds of riders as Australia’s mountain biking capital!”

Find out more at Maydena Bike Park.

Words: Alice Hansen