When getting into mountain biking, my first region I explored was Wagga Wagga since it was where I attended university and the trails there developed my skills from fire road cruiser into something of a cross country rider. Afterwards, the Albury/Wodonga region became my home as I explored two of the key networks and a new up and coming trail system. Since then, what I consider to be the “meta” of mountain biking in the region has changed and now there are four distinct systems you can ride. So with some Go-Pro footage of each ride, it’s time to see what’s happening in the Borderland!
Nail Can Hill (Albury)
Considered by locals to be the first and proper mountain bike trail system, Nail Can Hill is in North/West Albury and is an 8 minute drive from Albury’s main street or 20 minute ride to the main trail head at Range Road. Within Nail Can Hill there are two sub-networks consisting of the Range Road trails including Dirt Luge, Roxy’s Ramble, Terminated, Schweppes, and Intestines; and Centaur Road which has Paper Plate, Lightning Strike, Mine Your Line, Red Jumps, and Penguin. Neither sub-network has public toilets, rubbish bins, or bike repair facilities. And only the Range Road trails have a trail map to assist riders if they don’t have a printed map or a mobile app for navigation. But for the lack of facilities, Nail Can Hill makes up for it in challenges and the flexibility in creating your own route.
Map provided by Trailforks, left side is the Centaur Road trails while the bottom right is the Range Road trails.
Right from the car park at Range Road, you can enter onto Brown Snake Flats (which is a small skill loop of sorts), Lower Goat Track, or start pedalling up the fire road if you want to get straight into Terminated and Dirt Luge. My favourite loop is Lower Goat Track > Roxy’s Ramble > Low Range > Intestines > (Range Road Fire Road) > Horse > Dirt Luge > Shelob’s Revenge > Hard Up > Twister seeing as this loop has the best mix of everything and is blue grade accessible. Rock rollers, progressive switchback climbs, some tricky tech climbs (Low Range has the best/worst), flow runs and technical descents are all including in this easy to navigate loop and should take less than 40 minutes for a competent blue grade cross country rider.
To get to the Centaur Road trails, you need to pedal up and along the Ridge Trail which sucks. That’s right, no cushioning the blow on how steep, boring, and generally unpleasant this fire road is. Whether you put your bike into the lowest gear or walk it, during the summer there is very little shade and the clay heats up underneath you whilst during the winter you are exposed to the sheer cold winds. In the end, the trails range from “meh” to “great”. I’m a fan of Mine Your Line since it has a few rocks and narrow trees to force a challenge while it carves between abandoned open cut mines. Daybreak and Lightning Strikes are also pretty good for cross country adventuring. The Guy’s Trail fire road climb sucks and the Jumps Track is short lived.
Overall, I rate this trail system fairly well just for the Range Road trails with the ability to easily link segments together and accessible downhill runs like Dirt Luge, Terminated, Schweppes, and No More Secrets. If I wasn’t running the fatbike I might have taken on some of the harder downhill trails, but fun times can be had on Dirt Luge with a hard tail.
Yackandandah
The second most recent addition of the four and being the greatest in my opinion, Yackandandah (or Yack Tracks from now) possesses the best cross country loops in the border region and possibly Victoria. So what’s so great about these four loops?
This is the map you see at the trail head, on the website, in paper form, and on Trailforks. And once you know the trail you want to ride, there’s no need to look at the map since the trails are so well marked out!
Being a short drive from the town of Yackandandah, the only facilities out there are a drop pit toilet and some fixed tables and fire pits. There is a decent car park for a small rural trail network, but on a race day this would fill quickly. At the trail head, you have a small hut with the trail map printed large and clear so you can make out small details and decide which adventure to go on first. Coloured arrows point the way, and will indicate the junctions where loops split or where optional segments (such as Carcass Canyon) begin. With over 65km of trails here, it is all easily navigated and the only way you can get lost is by actively ignoring the arrows. With this in mind, what are the four/five loops?
Shack Track is the easiest of the loops and acts as the starting point for the Kokoda (purple) and Diggers (red) loops as you take on switchback climbs to reach the peak height of this trail. At the highest point, there is the four way junction to go onto Kokoda, Diggers, Carcass Canyon or continue along Shack Track. The descent on Shack Track is a moderately easy flow run with some nicely carved berms and some A-line/B-line choices which can elevate the trail to blue grade. With the base trail 3.3km long, this is a great warm up for the day or a sensational loop to lap. This trail is great, and it only gets better from here!
Carcass Canyon (or Valley of Shadows is what I’ve called it) is the black arrow that comes off the four way and is my preferred method for descending. Less than 100m from the junction, you drop down the Carcass Canyon which is a 30m long crevasse that drops around 5 metres, with only a few centimetres either side of your bars. Cutting into a 90 degree blind right hander, you climb up some techy rocks and hairpins until you reach a 50m long trench run. Requiring a straight line and some well timed pedals, the trench run makes you feel like Darth Vader is after you and your Y-Wings. Shortly after and a few turns later, you reach what I call “the Hot Wheels track” which is made of orange baked clay berms and sheer drop turns as you snake down and around the canyon like the old Hot Wheels tracks. The trail soon goes into some undergrowth where you duck underneath low branches and float over off camber roots. Finally, a blind left leads to a pinch climb that takes you back to the ending of Shack Track. Some argue this trail is black due to the sheer drops and how narrow the Carcass Canyon is, others claim it’s only a blue grade. Regardless, this is my highlight of the network since it can be used to warm up before the other trails or as a party lap to finish the day.
Diggers is the red loop and is the most flowing and “cross country” of the three large loops. Beginning with the Shack Track climb, it continues along the contours of the mountain and early on you ride along a ridge overlooking the valley below. Most of the climbing utilises progressive switchbacks that won’t ratchet up the difficulty too much, the most challenging aspect being continual climbing for 6km without much descending. Upon reaching the top, you are greeted by around 5km of flowing descents with berms, off camber corners, log rolls, rock gardens and fantastic views. The remaining 7km doesn’t have extensive climbs or descents, but winds between valleys and trees with a few technical sections to bring you home. Of the three large loops, this is my favourite since most of the climbing is dealt with early on and the hairpin under the fallen tree is memorable. This loop is easily enjoyed on hard tails and dualies alike.
Ground Effect is the yellow loop and what I consider to be the “adventure trail” since it has the best views of the three and involves some of the grind-iest climbs of the three. This loop is far removed from the other three and takes you along the fire road toward Yackandandah before crawling up the mountain side overlooking the lush bush land. Narrow trees, dense forest sections, rocky climbs, and tight hairpins all feature on this loop, giving the eyes and bike something to feast on. The back part of the extended loop does flatten out a bit and becomes a fairly plain affair with long straights coming to a shallow turn before sprinting off again; but the initial climb and final descent make this a tough but fair adventure. Slightly harder than Diggers, it’s best to enjoy the views and atmosphere of this roller coaster of a trail but is also a workout challenge for those wanting to improve their fitness before a cross country race.
Kokoda is the purple loop and what I consider to be the “enduro trail” with an elongated climb that ramps up near the summit before you rip down the mountain taking on berms, drop offs, log rolls, and rock gardens. You begin with the Shack Track climb, but as of recently, you actually continue up some of the Diggers climb in order to avoid climbing the fire road that previous lead from the lower single track to the upper portion of the loop’s single track. After a few kilometres of switchback climbing, you have the option of short-cutting and dropping into the right to start the descent down, or continuing up the steeper part of the singletrack climb in order to reach the summit and go for the full enduro descent. Depending on if you want to ride the other loops and how much time you have on your hands, you choose because the last part of the descent is still worth it. The final part of the Kokoda loop involves an absolute roller coaster piece of single track including rock armouring and some creek splashes before rejoining at the four way junction where you can go Shack Track descent, Carcass Canyon, or continue into the Diggers Loop. While accomplished on a trail hard tail, this track benefits dualies the most of the three major loops and has that flexibility of extending into Diggers, Carcass Canyon or Shack Track for the final run.
Part of the four way junction that indicates Shack Track descent (and the remainder of Kokoda and pink loop) along with the bypass into Carcass Canyon (black arrow) hence the ram’s skull on the tree.
The final consensus is that if you love single track in the bush, ride here. If you love adventures of different flavours, ride here. If you have a hard tail and want to follow the bread crumbs on some of the best single track in the region/state, definitely ride here! From the videos, there is no mistaking how much I enjoy these trails and how they rate so highly amongst locals and mountain bike travellers. There is the edition of the “pink loop” which uses parts of Shack Track and the extension of Shack Track into Diggers to take you back into town, but I am yet to do this since I’d rather use it for commuting than end up riding into town then double back on a hot summer’s day.
Charles Sturt University Skills Loop (Thurgoona)
The newest edition to the Borderland mountain bike scene and honestly a hidden gem above all else, this simple skills loop packs a lot of fun into its 1.3km trail length. Is this for the rowdy downhiller? No. Is it for an all day enduro ride? Definitely not. But if you want to take your significant other or friend that’s new to MTB on a fairly straight forward loop that has plenty of progression challenges in a safe environment, then look no further than this!
The base track is a no thrills loose on hard pack cross country loop with little to no elevation change, 3/4 open field and 1/4 stringy bark tree coverage, and track that is essentially hand cut and machine assisted in order to provide a maintainable and sustainable trail surface that can take punishment from young riders skidding their wheels or numerous riders doing a crit race on it. But on some parts of the track there are optional A-lines which ramp up the difficulty to blue and black difficulty in a fair way.
The photo pretty much shows how flat this place is and the map of the circuit.
First “black diamond” is a step up to flat that doesn’t do much aside from getting kids airbourne. The second “black diamond” is another step up to flat but with a bit more of a boost. The third black diamond is where things kick off since it is a rock slab roller where poor balancing and fear will cause riders to buck off or drop off the side. The challenges get a bit more techy after the sweeping corners in between the stringy barks where a right turn onto a light rock garden leads to a wooden skinny that angles up at a shallow angle but drops down quite soon. Shortly after that, what I consider to be the hardest obstacle is out in the open on the left where a rock slab ramps you blindly onto a log ride with minimal latitude before you come back down to earth. The final optional A-line black diamond is another wooden skinny that angles up slightly and sharply dives down. The remaining trail is a series of hard-pack switchbacks which meander up the hill until you reach some eucalyptus saplings and fledgling trees, shortly after there is a series of rollers that you can pump or jump before arriving back at the start.
I think this skills loop functions better than the one we have in Bendigo and is on par with Five Mile’s skills park in Moama. Having the 1.3km length means that there is plenty of space between obstacles for a breather, but it also means riders can do lap after lap to practice gear shifting and braking which is a skill undervalued in the mountain bike world. Rather than a short, sharp and steep loop like we have in Bendigo where the features come at you one after the other, the CSU Loop allows you to pace out and view the obstacles from afar. Plus the difficulty on some of these obstacles outweighs what Bendigo can offer aside from the lack of a drop off.
Is this necessary for a Borderland trip? Not really, but to muck around on and have an easy afternoon after smashing Yackandandah or Nail Can Hill if you’re out that way, it’s worth a go. And it’s great to see Australian universities investing money into the developing international sport that is mountain biking.
Hunchback (Wodonga)
At some point the trip was going to end, and at some point Warpath would be pushed beyond its limits. Unfortunately it all came to a head on Rock N’ Roller at Hunchback.
The end of Warpath?
So to begin, Hunchback is located 10-15 minutes outside of the Wodonga city centre and has no nearby toilets, rubbish bins, bike maintenance facilities, shade shelters and reception within the valley can range from one bar 4G to SOS only. Entry to the bike park is done through a spring loaded gate where you need to hike your bike onto its back wheel and pray the exposed metal doesn’t scrap or crack your pride and joy. There is a small map stuck to the entry gate on Felltimber Creek Road, but best navigate using Trailforks since the map is pretty comprehensive in terms of trails and fire roads.
This is raw, untamed single track where the builders aren’t afraid to make you heave on the pedals and get your wheels over some tricky rocks. There are small rocks in just the right places that you can spin a wheel or stall, causing you to smash into the ground with your face or shoulder. Do not under-estimate what they consider green or blue here.
While the network looks massive in scale, car park to the top of Coyle’s 4WD is barely 2.5km long with the twisty single track.
The top of Coyle’s looking down into Rock N’ Roller. The last photo of Warpath before disaster…
Having previously ridden Loose Goose and a few of the Unnamed trails nearest to the car park, my experiences were mixed. My brother had gone OTB on Black Down after he accidentally rode the track (was poorly signed 4 years back), Scooby Doo and Quartz practically leads to no where, and most of the trails felt slow. So the mission was to ride up the easiest way possibly, bomb Rock N’ Roller since that is “the best trail”, and finally whip through Loose Goose before heading home. Done and done before it reached 43 degrees that day. And with my previous experiences as an indicator, things were disappointing.
The Doodlebug climb is a bit technical but doesn’t go above and beyond. Some of the views looking down into the gully getting towards Coyle’s Road are okay I suppose? But for a “fire road climb” that has an “light fitness”, the 4WD track sucks. There is no shade, no protection from the wind, in some parts you question if it’s easier to crank on the pedals and strain a calf or attempt to push your bike up, and you have to wheel your bike through the spring loaded gates every 200m or so. Everything leading up to the start of Rock N’ Roller is less than exhilarating.
The descent reminds me of Mount Major or Mount Tarrengower in Maldon where it’s dusty and open for the most part, but the deep berms are rough as a cheese grater. With a smattering of doubles, gnarly rock gardens, bermed switchbacks, and skinny bridges with A-line and B-lines marked out well in advance and with fair gradings, this is a really great downhill trail. And then the back tyre on Warpath exploded and could not be salvaged trail-side. That was the end of that, and the walk down was shameful.
Rock N’ Roller was doing the most to change my mind about Hunchback, and for some people they crave the raw and rugged building style this network offers. But being from Bendigo where networks are either continuous loops that you can drop the hammer and not worry about navigation (like Yack Tracks) or a network with plenty of variety so choosing your own adventure is easy (like Nail Can Hill), Hunchback is an awkward jumble of trails that can sometimes be hard to follow or gauge what style the segment will be. If they run shuttle days here to the top of Rock N’ Roller, I would recommend doing that above all else. But Hunchback is not the premiere mountain bike destination for the Borderland.
The Battle is Over, Warpath is Done
Taking Warpath back to Bendigo and trying to fix it myself, the stem was spraying sealant everywhere and I noticed a significant dent in the rim. Dynaplugs and sealant refills later, I resigned and believed I just needed a new tyre to get it going? Cyclescape advised me otherwise saying the rim dent was beyond the point of hammering back out and the tyre would not seal. With 6 plugs now in the tyre, the Minion FBR had been brought back from the dead enough and would need replacing. So the final consensus was a new rim (or entire wheel), tubeless system, and a new Maxxis Minion FBR. A demise indeed. Crash autopsy might say the dent was caused by one of the rock gardens at Hunchback, maybe it was from filming the edit at Yackandandah, or perhaps jumping the fat bike at Harcourt with Karma Rider had set me up for this? No matter the cause, I had been pushing this fat bike beyond its limits for years and this was the final result.
As I write this lamenting the failure that was a fat bike tyre that was pushed too far, I wonder what I might do next? I’m hoping to get a Top Fuel to review, I would also like to try other brands like Specialized and Giant. I have accepted a new position within my department which is exciting, and will hopefully see me out riding more often during the evenings and weekends. But with Warpath in the shop for a long time and Titan no longer available, it’s down to Kaiju and I to hit the trails. About time we had some quality time together. Until next time, keep riding and stay awesome!
Through an amateur's eyes 