I tried mountain biking at St Helens, Tasmania's new beginner MTB hotspot

Whether you’re a beginner or a well-seasoned adrenaline junkie, you’ll find a trail to match your skill level.

I am rather fond of my teeth. But as I attempt my first descent on a mountain bike, I fear they might become a casualty of my new-found adventure sport.

“If you don’t come off, you’ll be fine,” reassures guide Steven Park. But his words are little comfort because last weekend Steven’s eight-year-old son stacked his bike on these exact trails, breaking his arm in three places. It’s a battle scar of a sport that sees daredevil riders barrelling down mountains at 60km/hour, jumping off boulders and cornering horizontally on the gravel.

Still, I’m keen to see what all the fuss is about. Especially here in St Helens, Tasmania’s east-coast jewel better known as the gateway to the Bay of Fires. I’m with my eight-year-old son (coincidence noted) and we’re set to shred some dirt at one of Australia’s newest mountain biking (MTB) destinations.

Inland from the region’s sugar-white beaches studded with saffron boulders, the mountain trails are capitalising on Australia’s growing love of MTB. (Australian Sports Commission data shows participation in the sport has more than doubled since 2016.)

Riders don’t come any more novice than me, ordinarily more of a basket-on-the-handlebars kind of cyclist. I team up with Steven from bike hire and shuttle company Gravity Isle, who kindly offers to show us the ropes. We meet at the Flagstaff Trailhead, a springboard to 17 trails and a brand-new pump track, just south of St Helens. The World Trail-designed network, opened in 2019, is divided into green (easy) trails, blue (more difficult) and black (very difficult).

The Bay of Fires Trail has a 42km summit-to-sea descent that starts in subalpine terrain 750m above sea level and ends at Swimcart Beach. Picture: Jacob Tierney (supplied).

I’m riding a Giant Trance carbon-fibre e-bike and am instantly baffled by the controls. Beyond the regular gears, there’s a power button to fiddle with (I can max out at 400 per cent extra power) and a “dropper post” for adjusting the seat – low on the downhill, high on the uphill. I’m overwhelmed and decide not to touch anything and instead just concentrate on the brakes.

“When you’re going downhill you always sit on the back of your seat, making sure you’re lowering your centre of gravity,” Steven instructs. “When you’re going over any bumpy stuff you should always stand up in your seat, just so your knees and your ankles take the impact, not your body.”

Slow and steady to begin, he says, then build up speed as your confidence and familiarity with the trail increase.

We hit Trail Head first, a 300m baby with barely a bump. Our first real challenge comes on Swell Done, an 845m loop and our first introduction to berms – tight banked turns. My son goes first and topples almost instantly. He’s unhurt but both our nerves are rattled. Steven tells us to take the turn high and wide, gently applying our rear brakes. Apply the front brakes too vigorously and we’ll slingshot over the handlebars, which is how his son ended up in plaster. Embarrassingly, I’ve only just figured out which handbrake applies to which wheel. From here on, I wobble cautiously around berms and over gentle “rollers” with my fingers hovering at the left-hand brake, wheels not deviating from the greens.

The great thing about this MTB trail is it’s built more for beginners and families than hardcore adrenaline junkies. Picture: Catherine Best.

The great thing about this MTB trail is it’s built more for beginners and families than hardcore adrenaline junkies, unlike Blue Derby, northwest of here. There are 110km of trails in total, including the Bay of Fires Trail, a 42km summit-to-sea descent that starts in subalpine terrain 750m above sea level and ends at Swimcart Beach. More than 34,000 people have done the trail since it opened, while the Flagstaff Trailhead has recorded almost 160,000 trips.

With the mountain bikers come new tourism opportunities for a destination that previously hung its marketing hat on its beaches. The local Break O’Day Council estimates the MTB network has stimulated more than $20 million in new business development in the region. This is evidenced at our accommodation. We’re staying at the Big4 Tassie Getaway Parks St Helens, which opened a bunkhouse dedicated to MTB groups in 2019, followed by a suite of six luxe eco-glamping tents in 2022. Ours is tucked behind a sandstone wall at the bottom of a private glamping village. It has a queen-size bed, two bunks, a lounge, kitchenette and ensuite bathroom with solar-heated water (rainwater is harvested). There’s a compost bin on the bench for the worm farm and a communal veggie patch. Outside, there’s a deck with a barbecue and a claw foot bath overlooking a private firepit and pond.

The park offers transfers to Flagstaff Trailhead, so you can ride back to town (we do), and has MTB storage, a bike wash-down facility and maintenance bay. But after a challenging day on the trails, we need a long soak in the tub more than anything.

Big4 Tassie Getaway Parks St Helens has a range of accommodation options. Picture: Catherine Best.

How to get to St Helens

St Helens is on the northeast coast of Tasmania, about two hours’ drive east of Launceston. 

Where to hire a bike in St Helens

Gravity Isle bike store in St Helens offers bike and helmet hire, multi-day group tours and shuttles to Flagstaff Trailhead, the linked blue and black trails at Loila Tier, and Blue Tier (departure point for the Bay of Fires trail).

Where to stay in St Helens

Big4 Tassie Getaway Parks St Helens is 300m from the water and has a range of accommodation options including cabins, glamping tents, a bunkhouse and caravan and camping sites. 

Originally published as I tried mountain biking at St Helens, Tasmania's new beginner MTB hotspot