Kingborough Mountain Bike Park

This park (opened November 2012) aims to fill a skills development niche in the mountain bike scene around Hobart and will be best enjoyed by newer riders and intermediate riders looking to develop their skills.  It would also be a great place for the kids who will love the jumps and easy riding.

As well as a Dirt Jump Park, the area contains a 200 metre 'kids corner' loop, the 1.3km "Holy Roller" for beginners and the 350 metre "Black Betty" which has a range of technical features, drops and bermed corners.

The park had a nice upgrade in 2019 and is worth another visit if you haven't been for awhile.

GETTING THERE

The Kingborough Mountain Park is behind the tennis courts at the Kingborough Sports Centre Complex. For locals who know the area, just head to the Kingborough Sports Centre and keep driving along the road. It's about 900 metres from where you turn off Summerleas Road into the sports centre (you drive past the sports centre on your left, past the twin ovals junction and then you'll see the tennis courts on your left. It's best to park in the bitumen carpark above the tennis courts and then just cycle down to the mountain bike park (it's well signed). There are a few spots down at the mountain bike park itself.

If you're not familiar with the area, then head down to Kingston from Hobart via the Southern Outlet making sure you are in the right hand lane as though heading towards Margate as you leave the Southern Outlet. Just over 10km from Hobart you'll see an exit on your left signed to Kingston (it's where you see the McDonalds) go up here and then at the roundabout at the top of the exit ramp take the third exit onto Summerleas Road. Follow this 1.6km (including going straight through one roundabout) until you see the turnoff on your left into Kingston View Drive which is well signed to the sports centre. The park is 0.9km up this road on the left just behind the tennis courts.

If you're cycling down here from Hobart and you know your way around then you could make a fun loop heading up towards Fern Tree via the Mt Wellington trails and then following the various trails down into Kingston (this option is only for locals who know the trails) or you could head out along Sandy Bay Road and around Taroona to Kingston. Once you get to the first set of traffic lights in Kingston you want to go right (don't go into Kingston) and cycle 150 metres along the highway to a small roundabout at the bottom of John Street. If you jump off the road here and follow the obvious gravel trail that runs along the left hand side of the highway you will find yourself on a bike path which you can follow up onto Summerleas Road where you'll turn right and cycle the last climb up to the Sports Centre.

The actual cross country rides start at the bottom of the jump park.

WARNINGS

Don't be fooled by thinking this is a beginners park (like I did). There's a few tricky jumps and corners on the various loops and it can bring you unstuck (like I was).

Be sensitive to the environment. If it's wet and the track is cutting up, then pull out and come back another day.

ROUTE DETAILS

Make sure you set your expectations when you set off down here ... This isn't another MTB Park like Glenorchy and Clarence. There's just 2kms of track down here, it's mostly one way, and an average rider can probably get around it all in around 10 minutes.

However, that's not the point.

What this park is built for is those looking to develop their skills (I'm ignoring the Dirt Jump Park and Pump Track here which can entertain those so inclined for hours).

All the trails start at the same spot and you can basically just start riding the loops and taking the different junctions and you'll figure it our pretty quickly.

The short 200 metre 'kids corner' loop is easy riding but is really just for the kids, however step up to the easy graded "Holy Roller" and even experienced riders can test themselves on the small obstacles and surprisingly sharp corners (if you get up to the right speeds), with the added advantage that the ride is short enough that you can try your approach a few different ways as you try a few laps.

The Intermediate graded Black Betty starts at the same place as Holy Roller (so the two can be combined into a larger loop) and it has at least one jump (at the start) that can't be rolled over. The only other major obstacle on the track is a choice of three different drops about half way around the short 400 metre loop.