Mogo Adventure Trail Hub will be major draw for mountain bikers

Eurobodalla Shire Council’s plans to develop a network of more than 150 kilometres of mountain bike trails near Mogo on the NSW South Coast are advancing following Rocky Trail Destination having been awarded a contract for the detailed design, construction and maintenance of the Mogo Adventure Trail Hub.

Having run mountain bike events in Mogo since 2018, Rocky Trail Destination will deliver the planned Mogo Adventure Trail Hub. With its sub-contractor Next Level Mountain Bike, the two companies have pledged to bring the best of international trail building practices to Mogo.

Rocky Trail Destination’s founder and Director, Martin Wisata advised “every one of our trails has a unique style: we do not use a cookie-cutter approach.

“As ‘destination builders’ we will drive the establishment of the Mogo Adventure Trail Hub to become a significant trail-based tourism network in Australia, providing the high quality and variety of trails that will inspire and excite a broad range of riding levels.”

Next Level Mountain Bike will construct the trails, with track designer Marcelo Cardona saying the company “lived and breathed” mountain bikes, noting “we not only design and build the next generation of mountain bike infrastructure, we share a passion for coaching, events, riding and racing bikes and mountain bike adventures.

“With a dedicated crew of trail builders we will be keeping our eyes off the ground with the big picture of the mountain bike industry trends in mind to build the Mogo trails, which represent the highest international-level quality standards.”

The Mogo Adventure Trail Hub project is seen as key driving tourism in the region following the devastating bushfires that ripped through the town of Mogo on New Year’s Eve 2019.

Awarded $3 million in NSW Government funding through the Growing Local Economies Fund, the development of the Mogo Adventure Trail Hub follows the Mogo Adventure Hub Trail Strategy, developed by consultants TRC for the Eurobodalla Shire Council, with the aim to best position the region as a premier adventure trail destination.

The plan sees that the trails network has the potential to attract 45,000 visitors to Eurobodalla in its first year of operation, resulting in an estimated $11.8 million injection to the local economy.

The 155 kilometre trail network will comprise about 125 kilometre of new trail and formalisation of the 30 kilometre of existing mountain bike trails in Mogo State Forest and Deep Creek Dam.

The network of 22 separate trails would link directly into Mogo village and Batehaven, making it highly accessible.

The $8 million project will be built using a $5 million grant from the NSW and Australian governments’ Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund and a $3 million grant from the NSW Government’s Growing Local Economies fund.

Nature-based tourism, of which mountain-bike trail riding is a part, is a rapidly growing industry throughout NSW and received nearly 28.3 million international and domestic overnight nature-based visitors in 2017.

As Eurobodalla is known for its expansive areas of nature-based tourism, establishing Mogo as a premier adventure trail centre is seen as having a significant economic benefit.

Eurobodalla Shire Council is working closely with Forestry NSW on the project and hopes construction will start early next year.

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Image: Eurobodalla Shire Council Tourism Manager Tim Booth shows off the new Mogo trails brand. Credit: Eurobodalla Shire Council.