60km of world class mountain biking an hour from Melbourne, with a historic and charming village as its hub, complete with several pubs and an excellent French bakery. Sound enticing? Well, come up and explore Djuwang Baring, otherwise known as Creswick Trails – Victoria’s most accessible, world class mountain bike park. There are family friendly green trails through to steep and technical black sections. Kids, families, adaptive riders, cross country whippets, and hardcore shredders are all catered for.

Creswick is gold rush era town, whose charm is matched by its food and drink cred. Now, it is a mountain bikers’ Mecca; its trails were built by the O.G. trail builders, Dirt Art, who are responsible for many of the best mountain bike parks in the country.

Start at the trailhead at Hammon Park, which has an excellent pump track, BBQs, shelter, toilets and a bike repair stand.

The trails are designed as a series of loops feeding into a central spine. We recommend exploring the western trails first (Cosgrave and Wood Coupe) to get used to the excellent trail conditions.

Here are some tips on where to ride.

Our favourite sections:

Wood Coupe

Warm up by spinning up Marsupial (W1), Mining Expedition (W7) and down Barramal (W8). Riders with moderate levels of fitness and skill will have no problem on these twisty, tree-lined trails. Then climb Gir (W3) which has both A and B climbing lines, so you can get techy, or not. At the top you have a choice of Green (easiest), Blue (moderate) and Black (difficult) trails down. If you’re skilled and warmed up, why not try the Black trail Balim Balim (W4). If you’re fairly new to MTB, maybe start off with the full Marsupial (W1) loop. Great scenery and some of the most fun trails are found here.

Cosgrave

At the trail junction, you can head to Cosgrove, which is mainly made up of blue level trails, twisty and fun. Yapuka (C1) bridges you across to the eastern section of the park, which is a favourite of many. Great for XC (cross country) riders.

Yulawil Gravity

This section is seriously fun. Wide, fast, hard-packed trails are lined with pine trees. Easiest way up is Yam Daisy (G7). Again, at the top of the trail you have a variety of options, depending on your skills and confidence. Green Apple (G8) is easy and much loved by people discovering the thrill of mountain biking, and it’d be a good move to check out Jumping Jacks (G9) – the name gives away what the trail is about. A couple of black runs, suited to the full-face helmet crowd will get you down in no time.

Sections suited to rider type:

Adaptive cyclists

Many of the eastern trails are suitable to adaptive riders. In fact, 30% of the trails are on offer for our offroad hand-cycling friends. Head to the Yulawil Gravity section, just north of St George’s Lake. Start at the main trailhead at Hammon Park. Adaptive cycling routes have an icon on the trail map (see link at the bottom of the article) so it’s easy to work out where to head.

Beginners, kids and families

We recommend starting at Hammon Park, where there are lots of facilities like toilets and BBQs, a pump track and a bike repair stand. S3 takes you on a section of the 210km Goldfields Track which runs from Ballarat to Bendigo. The trail merges into S4, S5 and S6. Then hop onto Marsupial (W1) and Guwak (G10). The Goldfields Track heading west also takes you to the Cosgrove area, although it is rated Blue, it is do-able for most riders.

Hardcore shredders

If you’re a full-face helmet and body armour type, there are some excellent technical trails. Check out The Southern Pro Line, Yulawil Gravity section (trails G1-5). The Wood Coupe and Adventure sections are also well worth exploring. Many Black rated trails have A (hard) and B (easy) sections. We recommend scoping the black trails as some of the sections are suited to highly skilled riders. Ride slowly on your first run, or follow a friend who knows the trails.

Djuwang Baring is one of the best mountain bike parks in state, and the village of Creswick is a cherry on top of a very tasty cake.

For more information, visit: djuwangbaring.com