Happy trails: Narooma mountain bike trail network to grow to more than 100km
Narooma, on the NSW Far South Coast, is set to expand its awesome mountain bike trail network with the exciting announcement that MTB trail-building company, Dirt Art, has been awarded the contract to complete the design and construction of the second and third stages of the Narooma Mountain Bike Hub, with the project being managed by Natural Trails’ Craig Stonestreet and Blue Sky Trails’ Craig Meinicke.
This exciting project means Narooma’s current 30-plus kilometres of amazing MTB trails will be expanded over those two stages to offer more than 100km of world-class trails and infrastructure, in one of NSW’s most beautiful regions. The project has been funded by the Bushfire Local Economy Recovery Fund (BLERF; funded by the Commonwealth and NSW government under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, the project has received $3.9 million for the entire project). Narooma MTB Club President, Georgie Staley, says this project will be a huge boost to not only the riding experience, but also to tourism in the town and surrounding areas, and joins nearby Tathra and Bermagui (as well as Cooma, Jindabyne, Thredbo and Canberra inland) as another south-east NSW MTB riding destination. Add in the upcoming – and equally huge – trail network being developed in nearby Eden (due to open in June 2023) and the south coast of NSW is shaping up as another of Australia’s MTB meccas.
President of the Narooma District Chamber of Commerce & Tourism, Dr Jenny Munroe, welcomes the development of the Narooma Mountain Bike Hub and fully supports the initiative, noting how bike-based tourism can help boost tourism and the resultant investment on-flow into the community.
“Mountain biking is one of the fastest growing recreational activities globally and Narooma has the environment and facilities to host bikers who will visit for the experience,” Munroe says. “This will provide opportunities for local hospitality businesses to have year-round custom rather than rely on seasonal trade. The Far South Coast will be the perfect mountain biking destination for enthusiasts and will provide facilities for families to foray into our beautiful bush with all the benefits of exercise, adventure, and the environment.”
Getting the experts on board
The Narooma Mountain Bike Club invested loads of time and energy into getting the project to this successful stage, and recognised the need to engage people with project management and trail construction experience, and are stoked to have a renowned company such as Dirt Art, on board for that purpose.
“We are over the moon with being able to have such an experienced and nationally recognised trail building company as Dirt Art to design and construct our trail network,” Georgie Staley says. “Having seen their preliminary ideas I know that the mountain bike community is going to be excited to come and ride here. Dirt Art brings the experience of constructing such projects as Maydena Bike Park [Tasmania], the Hero Trail at Bright, Victoria, and the Thredbo Valley Trail.” Read More…
