Granite Belt mountain biking: Angry Bull Trails will open by winter 2025 as 120km of track begins construction

Federal funding has allowed a major tourism project to spread its wings, with organisers predicting the adventure sports site will attract thousands to the Queensland-NSW border. UPDATE HERE. 

Cyclists riding in the beautiful country at Tenterfield (Photo: Angry Bull Trail)

A picturesque hamlet in the High Country is set to be a major destination for adventure tourism as the region shifts to boost the economy.

Tenterfield is set to be a tourism capital in an unusual field - the niche of adventure tourism - with organisers keen to attract people to the region.

Adventure tourism is a type of tourism involving outdoor activities such as trekking, climbing, rafting, or biking.

Angry Bull Trails is an upcoming mecca for fans of the outdoors, situated along and across both sides of the Queensland-NSW border, with 174km of track in total around the beautiful High Country.

Construction began on the Angry Bull trail a few months ago with the project set to be open by mid-2025. (Photo: Angry Bull Trail)

Organisers have now been given the funding security required to bring the Angry Bulls Trails Adventure Tourism Destination Project to its fullest, receiving $8.2m from the federal government's Growing Regions Program. 

The $12.3m project is suited for mountain bike riders of all abilities, including adaptive trails and tracks for walkers with stunning vistas of the border region.

The federal funding will go towards the development of 58km of back-country trails for thrillseekers, trailhead infrastructure including parking, toilets and signage, competition level pump track and an expanded ABT Trail Centre decked out with end of trip facilities and a disabled access lift. 

Regional Development Minister Catherine King said almost $80m will be allocated to community infrastructure projects across regional NSW. 

"Quality infrastructure in regional areas is invaluable, and this funding will build and upgrade key facilities that can be enjoyed by communities for years to come," Ms King said in a statement. 

Major adventure firm Trailworx began designing the trails earlier this year with construction beginning a few months ago.

The project is expected to finish in June 2025, weather permitting.

Nationals MP Scott Barrett announced the project in 2022 saying the trails would be “world class,” placing Tenterfield and the wider region on the map as a nationally significant tourism destination.

Once operational it’s believed Angry Bull Trails would attract at least 35,000 additional visitors to Tenterfield each year, generating $4.3m of additional tourist expenditure annually, as well as the jobs, to the Tenterfield economy.

Cyclists in the High Country near Tenterfield (Photo: Angry Bull Trails)

Angry Bull director Joseph Smith said the project started as an opportunity to create economic development in a struggling town.

“The trail will spawn other developments in the private sectors, businesses will come to the region and say ‘hey, I can start a tour company or a guided walking company, the whole range of adventure tourism could come to the region’, which is the bigger play,” Mr Smith said in 2022.

The news comes as a major win for the region, after a blow to the tourism sector earlier this week.

The historic Tenterfield Railway Bridge began to crumble, a well-known and protected site which attracted rail history buffs, photographers and families alike.

More than 100 years old, the bridge was finished in 1888 as an extension of the main Great Northern NSW railway line, but after its closure more than a decade ago, quickly became a notable landmark and spot for locals and tourists alike.