106 Frighteningly Popular – Haunted Hills Bike Park – Attracting big numbers

NICHOLAS KING | PROJECT MANAGER

Keen adventure-seekers aren’t being deterred by the spooky name of Gippsland’s newest adventure hotspot, flocking to the Latrobe Valley’s Haunted Hills Bike Park to test their skills.

Located between Morwell and Moe the collaborative project was officially opened in December 2021, after more than a decade of uphill toil. And the park has been buzzing with cyclists young and old ever since.

“Pretty much ten years of planning works through to construction, led by Gippsland MTB,” explained Destination Gippsland Tracks and Trails Project Manager Nicholas King. “A huge journey, Gippsland MTB have a vision for Gippsland as a mountain biking mecca and the Haunted Hills Bike Park is the gateway to mountain biking in Gippsland.”

Perfectly nestled in the historic Haunted Hills, where ghost sightings and spooky yarns abound, the bike park includes 13 kilometres of progressive trails, as well as a pump track and kids’ trail.

With an adventure menu to suit everyone from young children to experienced riders, the Haunted Hills Bike Park has understandably gained a cult following in just a few short months. And that was the aim all along.

“The gateway to Gippsland mountain biking captures the eastern Victorian market. To come through, visit Gippsland and see what it has to offer. The Haunted Hills Bike Park is a progressive bike park for beginners right through to advanced.

“It’s also been coined as a bit of a ‘pocket’ mountain bike park. It’s quite small compared to other mountain bike parks, but it has something to offer to beginners right through to expert riders,” said Nicholas, who is also on the Haunted Hills Bike Park Trail Crew and a founding Gippsland MTB member.

The Haunted Hills Bike Park was carefully designed to reflect the enigmatic and mysterious history of the area. From the tombstone-shaped signage to the Mad Cows Trail and the pump track, which, from above, forms skull and crossbones, every turn and every run has been meticulously planned.

“The facility is free to the public. There’s a pump track which is perfect for kids and it’s right next to the visitor amenities – barbecues, seats, tables, there are also toilets available. "You can come along for the day, bring some food, cook it up on the barbie and watch the kids ride around all within eyesight."

“The main trailhead area is really great for beginners because you can have that visual ‘eyes on’. For more adventurous riders, they can head over ridge where more of our intermediate to advanced trails are.”

But what if you’re more of a skater, or scooter rider? No worries, says Nicholas, with the bike park also being frequented by those not in the mountain bike saddle.

“What we’re starting to see is a lot of families with kids that are coming out even just using their scooters and trikes and little balance bikes. I’ve seen some skaters using the pump track. I’ve also seen some of those electric skateboards using the trails and even a rollerblader! It caters for all types of wheels!

“We don’t want to pigeonhole it as just a mountain bike park, it’s lending itself to more adventure sports and alternative adventure sports where you don’t have to have organised training meet ups or activities on the weekend, you can just come, and participate whenever you feel like it.”

A mammoth project, the bike park was developed in partnership with the Gippsland MTB Inc., Latrobe City Council, Energy Australia, Destination Gippsland, and the Victorian and Australian Government – with almost one million dollars invested by the Commonwealth for stage 1.

With free entry, the success of the park is being gauged by visitor numbers, with anyone attending the park being encouraged check the current trail status, and log their visit through the Trailforks app. Gippsland MTB also encourages donations, called ‘Trail Karma’ to assist the volunteer trail crew to maintain and develop the trails through the Trailforks app. You can also download a digital map of all the trails, so you will never get lost!

“The visitation numbers at the bike park are huge. The numbers we are getting, the data coming through, the car park’s full every day. From open to close. We have people waiting at the gate for it to be opened.”

From the data that has already been crunched, Nicholas says most of those visiting the park are from outside of Gippsland – which bodes well for the next stage of the project.

HAUNTED HILLS BIKE PARK

Stage two has already been fully funded by the Victorian Government, with another million-dollar investment. Once again Gippsland MTB, Latrobe City Council, Energy Australia, Destination Gippsland, Trailscapes, and locally based HCM Constructions are joining forces to deliver the project.

Once completed, the park will be the gateway to the Central Gippsland ‘G7’ Mountain Bike Hub – which are seven Mountain Bike Parks dotted around Central Gippsland.

“Construction of Stage 2 will be complete by mid-2022. And we hope to open a further 10-12 kilometres of what we call down country trails, so more of journey type of trails, so a bit longer. We’re intending to open them for Spring 2022.”

While the focus of the park was to attract new visitors to the region, the facility may also be in the running to host major events – and perhaps even get a Commonwealth Games nod to host a cross-country Olympic (XCO) format event. “All the hard work, all of the sweat and all of our friends and volunteer efforts that have gone into it from Gippsland Mountain Bike Club have paid off.”

Haunted Hills Bike Park is located at 354 Haunted Hills Road, Hernes Oak. There are easy, intermediate, and difficult trails. Entry is free and gates are open between 6am-9pm during Summer daylight savings (Oct-Apr), and between 7am-6pm (Apr-Oct) BMXs, scooters and skateboards are all suitable for riding on the pump track. While the trails can be ridden with any type of bike, a bike with gears is best for the uphill sections.