General News
25 August, 2026
Upgrades at mountain bike park near completion
UPGRADES at the Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park are nearing completion, after a helicopter was brought in recently to cart 500kg pallets of rock matting to key locations of the track.
Tablelands Cycle Sports (TCS), managing body of the Atherton trails, secured $1 million in funding through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements early last year after Cyclone Jasper and the following rain event in 2023 damaged a large section of the trails.
Since then, the funding has been used to repair and refurbish trails, and make them more resilient to future rain events, particularly the intermediate difficulty trails which run further into and up the mountains of the park.
“The prolonged wet season this year has impacted on the roll out of the project, but we are progressing well now,” TCS president David Prete said.
“We’ve spent about 75% of the funding so far and should be finished in the coming month.”
The recent works saw a helicopter transporting half-tonne pallets of rock matting to different sections of the track to be installed by trail building company, Contour Works.
Mr Prete said over 200 sheets of rock mat were installed, with each sheet weighing around 50kg.
“The rock mat is being installed in low sections of the trails that are prone to erosion and areas that get soft and boggy when it is wet,” he said.
“Rather than carting three or four sheets in at a time in a powered wheelbarrow, which is physically demanding and time consuming, it was more economical and time efficient to airlift the pallets into key locations.
“Heli Lift from Port Douglas were engaged to complete the airlift, which took about three hours once they were set up. The actual installation of rock sheet in the ground took about five days.”
As president of TCS, Mr Prete said it was “fantastic” to see the works nearing completion.
“Our trails have not received major maintenance since they were constructed over 10 years ago. This is a massive injection of funding for a small, hard-working, not-for-profit club,” he said.
“It’s taken a lot of work and coordination over the last year or two – from writing the (grant application), negotiating with key stakeholders, meeting with funding personnel, selecting a project manager, monthly meetings, trail assessments, and monitoring the progress of the works.
“The whole project would not have been possible without the support of the Australian and Queensland governments, Sport and Recreation, Tablelands Regional Council, Tablelands Yidinji Aboriginal Corporation, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, Craig Meinicke of Blue Sky Trails, and Contour Works.”
The Atherton Forest Mountain Bike Park is located on Rifle Range Road, Atherton. Visit https://www.facebook.com/RideAthertonTablelands to stay up to date with track updates and closure notices due to works and upcoming planned burns in the area.
