Mogo trails mountain bike track construction to begin
Mogo Trails, the new $8m mountain bike track, will see its construction begin next week. See the plans here.
The South Coast News
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Construction on a new $8m mountain bike trail on the south coast is set to begin next week.
The 155 kilometre mountain bike trails running from Mogo into Deep Creek Dam will see new tracks built and existing tracks revitalised.
The ‘Mogo Trails’ will begin near Annette Street in Mogo, before running along Curtis Road, Maulbrooks Road and the Botanic Gardens.
The multiple tracks will range in difficulty from easy, intermediate and advanced.
James Southgate from Moruya Bicycles has been serving excited customers ready to use the new tracks.
The bicycle mechanic said the tracks are something “the area needs”.
“To have world class mountain biking trails coming to our area is extremely exciting,” he said.
The store is expecting to have an influx of locals and travellers purchasing bikes when the Mogo trails open.
According to the Eurobodalla Shire Council, the estimated users of the tracks per year will be about 45,000 people.
“Everyone is so excited,” Mr Southgate said.
“There are tracks already around the bush in Mogo, but to have these new tracks built and to have the old tracks fixed is something which needed to happen.”
Funding for the Mogo trails come from bushfire recovery grants, with $5m from the NSW and Australian governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund and $3m from the NSW Government’s Growing Local Economies Fund.
In November 2022, the Rocky Trail Destination completed the Review of Environmental Factors (REF) and submitted it to Forestry Corporation (Forestry) for assessment, which was approved in January 2023.
The approval now allows construction crews to get started and the Next Level MTB team are arriving to begin construction from mid-January.
Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Mogo Trails manager Shane Spicer said riders could continue to use the current volunteer made tracks in the Mogo State Forest.
“We’re asking riders to stay off freshly built trails, follow advice on safety signs, and stay away from construction crew until the trails are opened,” he said.
Meanwhile, council’s director of planning Lindsay Usher said the trails were expected to inject $12 million into the local economy within the first year of operating.
“There’s an explosion of mountain biking in our region and across the world and we are lucky to have plenty of multi-use forest right on our doorstep,” he said.
“Research has shown that every dollar invested in cycling infrastructure returns almost $5m to the economy in health benefits.”
The Mogo Trails are expected to open to the public mid-2024.
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