6 Best Adelaide Mountain Bike Trails For Gravity Lovers

Upon searching for mountain bike trails through South Australia, we found little to no information and our hopes started to slip.

We the gathered once we left the east coast of Australia we wouldn’t be visiting great local bike parks such as Glenrock or Derby. As a result, our mountain bikes would build the wrong kind of dust and begin to rust over the remainder of our road trip.

We are so glad to announce we were wrong.

Adelaide is littered with trail networks of all disciplines hiding in all sorts of corners and valleys.

We’ve put together a list of the best Adelaide mountain bike trails so that you don’t need to go through the same doubt we did.

You’re Welcome.

O’Halloran Hill

Let’s start with O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park, home to some of the finest mountain bike trails in the Adelaide region. 32 km of singletrack snake their way around the sloping hillside, creating a beginner mountain bikers paradise.

The trails come in a wide variety, but an obvious focus is based around Cross-Country mountain biking. With that in mind, the tracks are of a gentle nature and most are commonly shared with walkers.

So take it easy in the XC sections unless you want an angry finger waggle from a walker!

A great addition to O’Halloran Hill Bike Park – and definitely the reason Candace and I loved riding here – is the inclusion of superb gravity runs.

Between the 3 main descents, you’ll find a series of lines dedicated to the best traits of mountain biking…

Berms. Jumps. Tech.

Each gravity line is short and sharp, stretching only 700 m. However, what they lack in size, they make back in quality.

Whether you’re flying down the wide machine built jump line of Flight Club, or nipping in and around the man-made features of Shapeshifter, I can guarantee you and your mates will have a ball.

Wait, I haven’t even mentioned the best part!

All 3 trails have shuttle access. No need to play the poor mans game. Just throw the bike in the ute and power back up the hill. But for those – like us – without the means of transport, don’t shy away. An easy climbing trail is provided that runs directly back to the peak of these fun gravity runs.

Maybe shuttling isn’t worth it after all.

Getting To O’Halloran Hill

O’halloran Hill Recreation Park is easily accessible and found 18 km (32 minutes) south of Adelaide CBD. A large car park located at the intersection of Majors Rd and Adams Rd provides more than enough room for many visitors.

Cobbler Creek

Nestled between Golden Grove and Salisbury, Cobbler Creek Bike Park is a fantastic introduction to off-road mountain biking. Providing 19 km of both single and double track, here is another park catering for every bike lover.

Undoubtedly the coolest feature of Cobbler Creek is the latest addition of the skills park. Three distinct trails – varying in difficulty – lead mountain bikers down a gradual gradient and through a series of jump lines.

Both the beginner and intermediate trails support nothing but table-tops and allow for slow progression to larger kickers.

But, the advanced line rises to a whole new level…

Wooden ramps, designed to send you high over the larger doubles are found, but that’s nothing. The series of unique features following – including the a whale-tale and a wall-ride – are an absolute stand out.

The Trails on the Southern side of Grove Hwy all come with a very easy nature. To find the fun descents, you must take the tunnel north, under the Hwy…

Crossing to the northern side of Grove Hwy, Cobbler Creek begins to showcase true Adelaide mountain bike trails. A mixture of tech and flow can be found in the rocky outcrop as you wind through the some of Adelaide’s best cross-country and gravity runs.

Snakes and Ladders is a short sharp descent that dips in and out of a steep gully, giving riders the butterfly effect as they drift around the rollercoaster of berms.

While Northern Downhill showcases a more advanced riding experience. An easy-going first section of flowing berms and rollers quickly turns into a more ferocious playing field of steep descents, intermediate rock gardens and small gap jumps.

Getting to Cobbler Creek

Cobbler Creek Recreation Park is located smack bang in the middle of Sailsbury and Golden Grove, 20 km (40 minutes) north of Adelaide CBD.

The car park is easily found using Google Maps at the junction point of Smith Rd and Bridge Road.

Fox Creek (Cuddle Creek)

An Adelaide Mountain Biking post wouldn’t be complete without the well-known Fox Creek Mountain bike Park.

But we have some bad news… We were unable to conquer the Adelaide’s best!

Unfortunately, the devastating fires across South… well actually all of Australia through the 2019/2020 Summer, had all but wiped Fox Creek MTB Park off the map.

Fortunately, the trail network is currently under construction and you can be sure they are going to be bigger and better than ever!

Anyway, enough babble. Let’s dig into the trails.

Fox Creek is by far the largest network of Adelaide mountain bike trails and caters for every mountain biking discipline.

Several Cross-Country Loops wind through Adelaide Hills, testing out the riders physical and mental endurance. As a general rule of thumb, an intermediate level of both skill and fitness is required.

Moving away from blood sweat and tears, the Gravity trails found in Fox Creek are said to be outstanding!

The majority of the gravity lines are located on the eastern side of the bike park and encompass a wide variety of features. Everything from beginner kickers to massive natural drops will be found throughout the downhill trails, so be sure to make time for scoping the correct lines.

Before the fires, Fox Creek hosted many race days for all riding categories and I say this with utmost confidence, Race days will re-commence when mountain biking returns to this great venue.

Getting To Fox Creek

It is a 34 km (45 minutes) journey from Adelaide’s CBD, leading you east out to Adelaide Hills.

There are two main car parks associated with Fox Creek Mountain Bike Park – Fox Creek Downhill MTB car park and Fox Creek MTB Green Smoothie car park.

Obviously, for the avid downhill mountain bikers, the downhill car park is your best bet and makes for the easiest access to shuttling. While the Cross-Country trails are better accessed via the Green Smoothie car park.

Both of these car parks are simply found by the use of Google Maps.

Brownhill Creek

Brownhill Creek has to be Adelaide’s smallest mountain bike trail network, and consisting of only one main Downhill Run, we weren’t getting our hopes up.

But for a beginner gravity trail, Andos Downhill was a surprisingly fun ride. The entirety of the run is spread over a placid gradient with several small rock gardens thrown in the mix.

Three quarters down the 900 m descent is a succession of well-built jumps, each stepping up in size as you fly through. This provides the perfect progression for beginner mountain bikers looking to step up their jumping game.

There are older trails that are unsanctioned on the eastern side of Old Belair Rd, but crossing the road can prove very dangerous and these trails are becoming quickly overrun by bushland.

Not to mention, locals don’t want people riding there and a fence is being planned to axe riding there altogether!

Getting to Browhill Creek

Brownhill Creek Mountain Bike Trails are not as straightforward to find as the other bike parks I’ve mentioned.

Located only 8 km (15 minutes) South of Adelaide CBD, expect the roads to be busy and parking to become somewhat difficult.

Your best bet is to park in the Barr Reserve directly across Old Belair Rd from the conclusion of the gravity run. From here a quick 2 minute walk will line you straight up with the gradual climb to reach the top.

Shepherds Hill

Shepherds Hill MTB Park is another great mountain biking location for riders looking to get their first taste of forest freedom.

Many beginner trails scour the red hill-side, showcasing nothing but slick lines and smooth flowing corners.

The inclusion of several intermediate gravity trails also provides experienced mountain bikers with areas to generate high speed and adrenaline-fuelled runs.

Along with the hill-side mountain bike trails, Shepherds Hill boasts several pump tracks that are found directly next to Ayliffes Rd car park. Perfect to practice pumping and holding speed.

Getting to Shepherds Hill

Shepherds Hill Recreation Park is located 11 km (20 minutes) south of Adelaide CBD and is easily found via the use of Google Maps.

The car park is found just off Ayliffes Rd at the commencement of the Danthonia and Viaduct Track.

Eagle MTB Park

I was quite disappointed with Eagle MTB Park. I had high hopes of a well-maintained pearler of a bike park focusing on epic gravity.

What we found wasn’t that…

We found a desolate, barren wasteland with a couple of rugged, washed out tracks thrown in.

If you’re a lover of downhill mountain biking and you love a dusty, rough and raw descent, you can certainly have some fun here. However, with a little bit of love and maintenance, Eagle MTB Park could be oh so much better.

From a central hub – mainly used for event and race days – there are a number of advanced descents at your mercy. Though accessing this section was a mission of uphill struggles.

Eagle MTB Park was the driest terrain we experienced in Adelaide, causing grip to be a tedious task. Washing in the thick dust was nothing compared to rocks crumbling underneath our tyres.

If I haven’t made it clear this is a bike park designed for the more advanced mountain bikers out there.

With the most difficult trail being The Mixer. Punishing rock gardens across off-camber terrain ramps up the fun and makes this bike park almost worth it.

Towards the East of Eagle MTB Park and up the steep mountain, the trails morphe into an intermediate nature. Switching from gnarly Downhill to cross-country style loops with the addition of a great jump line.

Getting to Eagle MTB Park

Eagle MTB Park is Located in Leawood Gardens 13 km (22 minutes) south-west of Adelaide CBD.

There is only one car park for Eagle MTB Park on non-event days and it is found off Mount Barker Rd.

Trust us, this is the only car park available. We tried to park at the eastern end of the trails, but we were met with gates and extremely narrow residential streets. Causing us to have to reverse our big old camper van out.

Don’t make our mistake and go to the wrong car park!

It can be easily found by the use of Google Maps.

We hope to be back in Adelaide one day soon to tackle Fox Creek and any other epic trails we missed. If your favourite Adelaide Mountain Bike Trail isn’t on our list, please let us know in the comments below so we can add it.

Now go on, get out there!