Awaba Mountain Bike Park
Overview
Lake Macquarie’s Awaba trail network is open 365 days a year, maintained daily to ensure a premium experience all year round.
There is no park passes or cost to ride the trails, the Awaba trails are free to ride all year. If you would like to support the maintenance of the trails, there are opportunities available through the Hunter Mountain Bike Association (HMBA) website with all contributions going directly to the ongoing trail maintenance.
From time to time the Trails are utilised for events, check the HMBA website and Facebook page for notices regarding trail closures.
KIDS AND BEGINNERS:
With a growing network of trails to choose from it can be tough to know where to start. If you are new to mountain biking, Awaba has an excellent range of options with a ‘Development’ track for the kids and the stunning newly opened Junior Downhill trail (“Faulk Line”) for intermediate riders. Local providers (Momentum is your friend) also offer skills sessions to get you started and you can find an extensive fleet of bikes including kids and women specific models within the region (Breakaway Cycles).
ADAPTIVE RIDING:
Lake Macquarie’s mountain biking community encourages riders of all physical abilities to get involved in this fantastic sport. Awaba has a number of options for Adaptive MTB riders. Check out the ‘Riding with HMBA’ tab on the HMBA website.
DOWNHILL:
There are two options here – for the intermediate rider, check out ‘Faulk Line’ – a 2 km ‘rollable’ gravity trail, or the double black diamond ‘Monkey Trail’ for the experienced. Both are accessed from Mt Faulk Road.
CROSS COUNTRY/ENDURO:
Awaba has a 12 km loop with two shorted loops (5km and 9km). There are connecting fire trails and public roads that provide park users with options to plan various routes on their day out.
SAFETY:
The Awaba trail network encompasses 200ha of forest. The trails are spread throughout a large wilderness area which is often inaccessible to vehicles. Pre-ride preparation is paramount to ensure maximum enjoyment and rider safety whilst riding in the more remote areas of the trail network. Refer to the HMBA website for further advice.
Imagery courtesy of Matt Staggs Visuals.
Location & Directions
As you drive along Freemans Drive, turn onto Mount Faulk Road and continue for approximately 2km until you see the entrance to the Awaba Mountain Bike Park on your right. Drive in along the dirt road for several hundred metres and you will come to the main carpark and XC trail head area.