Located around 70 kilometres east of Melbourne, The Warburton Mountain Bike Destination is set to be a world-class mountain bike destination, featuring up to 160 kilometres of mountain bike trails across the hills of Mount Little Joe, Mount Tugwel, Mt Bride and Mount Donna Buang, connecting with the popular Lilydale-Warburton Rail Trail and the O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail.

Nestled amongst the mountains, the Project will attract visitors from around the world to experience Warburton’s natural beauty and relaxing atmosphere. It will also create more jobs and help grow the local economy. In 2031 when all stages of the project are complete, the trail network is expected to bring substantial economic benefits to Warburton. Injecting more than $31 million a year into the local economy, creating 84 jobs during construction and 148 operational jobs.

Trail heads will provide facilities for riders, including car parking, picnic areas, toilets and bike wash stations. The main trail head and visitor’s hub will be located at Wesburn Park for stage 1 of the project, where riders can access the trail network or take a shuttle bus to Mount Tugwell trail head (Stage 1) and Mount Donna Buang (stage 2).

The project is staged into two parts. Stage 1 is fully funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, and contributions from Yarra Ranges Council and the Upper Yarra Community Enterprise for approximately 100km of trail in Southern Trail Netowork, located in the Yarra State Forest. Once both stages are complete, the project would be eligible for designation as a Gold-Level Ride Centre by the International Mountain Bike Association, making Warburton the only Gold-Level centre in Australia and one of only three outside the USA.

The Warburton Mountain Bike Destination Project has been in development since it was first raised in 2010 by local riders as part of Parks Victoria’s Healthy Parks Healthy People program.

Since then, Council has undertaken a feasibility study, detailed planning work, community consultation and extensive impact investigations to develop the project’s Environment Effects Statement.

The project has been developed in partnership with Parks Victoria and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and with input from the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Melbourne Water and the Upper Yarra Community Enterprise.

View the project history below and the extensive work that has gone into the project’s development.

*The documents contained here and within the archive were accurate at the time of publication.