Australian Mountain Bike Trail Guidelines

Four years after the idea was first raised at the 2014 Australian Mountain Bike Summit in Mt Buller, MTBA have released the Australian Mountain Bike Trail Guidelines. 

 

The Guidelines were developed in response to a growing need to establish and implement an Australian specific trail development process that guides mountain bike trail planning from proposal to implementation.  

 

The Guidelines will be an important tool for land managers, trail professionals and mountain bike groups by providing guidance to ensure a consistent approach to planning, designing, constructing and managing sustainable mountain bike trails. 

 

These Guidelines aim to ensure that mountain bike trails are developed to align with the landholder expectations, to meet the needs of riders, to minimise environmental impacts and to provide opportunities for the public to connect with the environment.

 

Project Manager, Denise Cox said thanks must go to the many key stakeholders from the mountain bike industry that contributed to the development of these guidelines including members of MTBA's Trails and Advocacy Management Advisory Commission. 

 

"Considerable consultation occurred throughout the four years since the concept of Australian trail guidelines was first raised and included consulting with members of the riding community, government agencies, professional and volunteer trail builders and land managers.'"

 

Approval was gained from the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife to make use of content from the draft WA Mountain Bike Management Guidelines in developing these Australian Guidelines.

 

The Guidelines include content such as the principles of general trail planning. design and construction, incorporating technical features, sustainability, signage and the stage trail development process from project proposal to management of trail networks and are complemented with a suite of resources and templates. 

 

Hard copies of the guidelines are available for purchase from MTBA's webstore (https://www.mtba.org.au/store/) with MTBA members and affiliates receiving a discount.