The southern network (which has just undergone a $2.32M redevelopment) surrounds the township of Forrest and takes riders through a mixture of wet eucalypt forest and awesome fern gullies. Warm up at the brand new skill park at the southern trailhead and then cut some laps on the brand new trails.
The new trail system has been designed in a stacked loop format. The Forrest Southern Mountain Bike Trailhead is the perfect place to improve your riding ability. The trails around the trailhead are beginner (green circle) trails and as you get further away from the trailhead the trail and their rating become more challenging. Dropping over the main road will take riders to the new Barwon Flow Trails and signature experiences like the famous Red Carpet.
The Forrest Southern Mountain Bike Trailhead is the perfect place to start your mountain bike adventure, or, to stop and stretch your legs.
Generally Forrest’s mountain Bike network is family friendly; the trailheads skills park has been designed and built for (beginners to advanced) riders to safely progress their riding ability.
The skills parks has 4 awesome experiences:
– a large asphalt pump track
– a kids and adaptive rider friendly asphalt pump track
– three skills lines, and
– two (beginner and intermediate) jump lines.
This facility welcomes skater and scooter riders too, yewww!
The Roller Coaster circuit is perfect for novice rider who have been practicing the skills at the trailhead. The trail begins with a steady ascending climb, followed by a wide, smooth, free flowing ride with gentle obstacles. The trail takes you to Sideshow Alley, Stomp Wallaby and Third Time Lucky.
Sideshow Alley is a really fun high quality beginners descending flow trail with some fun jumps and gentle turns. This short trail takes riders on a straight run back to the skills park and trailhead.
Capitalising on the elevation opportunities at Forrest, Stomp Wallaby is beginner Flow trail has some climbs and descents with lots of opportunities to build your riding abilities. This trail is lots of fun with a little hard work chucked in too.
The Third Time Lucky closed loop is a great step up from Forrest’s beginner trails; there’s plenty of trail features including bermed corners and jumps. The intermediate trail offers plenty of “air time” off an array of obstacles….you’ll be wanting to shred this trail over and over again!
Follow the Dog isn’t for the faint hearted; it’s a high quality advanced trail that takes you through tall open eucalypt forest and dense fern gullies. Physically Follow the dog is challenging; there’s a good long climbs and even better fast following descent with lots of gnarly features and steep sweeping berms.
Miller’s Mongrel is not man’s best friend. Crafted from the guts on the Follow the Dog, this black rated trail throws you down sheer pinches and large falling banked corners….odds are after a few runs, this trail might be your loyal companion?
The Forrest Loop is a wide, two way shared walking and MTB trail. It travels from the trailhead to the new Flow Trails, then down to the West Barwon Valley. It’s a fun beginners trail with some long flowing corners. There are some road crossing from the river back to the trailhead so young riders need to be supervised.
Travelling from the West Barwon River the Sandman’s Slog is an ascending trail that will link you to the 4 new intermediate and beginner jump flow trails as well as the Forrest Loop. Hope you enjoy switch backs!
“Korac” is an indigenous term for kangaroo. Local kangaroos frequently use this path while the trail were being constructed, hence the name. This really fun trail will have you hopping and bouncing through some great beginner berms, rollers and jump features.
PBJ is a really fun beginners jump flow trail and a perfect place for rider to progress their flow trail riding abilities. Was the trail named after a famous sandwich, or the flowy experience…who knows?
Steam Donkey is a speedy flow trail that showcases Forrest modern offering, the trail carves through stands of messmate trees and is packed with solid berms, off camber turns, fun rollers and some solid table tops. Intermediate riders and above will absolutely love this run!
Bombora (bombie) is another trail that you’ll probably spend all day riding. The trail drops down through a series of gullies and carves through stunning forest. This flowy trail has beautiful high swinging berms, solid jumps and even a sneaky shark fin chucked in too. The bottom section is solid, enjoying bombing in!
“Barlidjaru” is the local indigenous word for Platypus. This shared trail runs off the Forrest Loop, past Barwon Dam and climbs most of the way to the Lake Elizabeth carpark. The trail climbs for 6 kms the trail will also connect you to upper, middle and lower Red Carpet, as the trail is dual use and two way in some sections, please be mindful of approaching riders. This trail is also frequented by local wildlife.
Red Carpet Upper starts its way winding through lush, green fernery before beginning the descending through drier, scrubby bush. The fast descending section of Red Carpet Upper is one of Forrest’s signature experiences; it’s high paced and full of jumps, banked turns, berms and off camber sections.
After crossing Kaanglang Road, Red Carpet Middle re-joins Barlidjaru for a brief section of dual direction trail, so watch for oncoming riders! The trail then breaks away down into the quarry section. Watch for A and B lines and choose what tickles your fancy and skill set. The section from the Dam track is scenic but also duel directional, so enjoy the a cruising ride and watch for oncoming riders.
Red Carpet Lower is party time! With sweeping berms, jumps, shape features and two options for your final descent to the West Barwon, you will be grinning ear to ear by the time you reach the river!
Copper Shred is hybrid of the Red Carpet, the easy blue trail slithers and snakes away from lower carpet. The trail has some banked corners, small jumps and flowy sections.
Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the Great Ocean Road region the Wadawurrung, Eastern Maar & Gunditjmara. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We recognise and respect their unique cultural heritage and the connection to their traditional lands. We commit to building genuine and lasting partnerships that recognise, embrace and support the spirit of reconciliation, working towards self-determination, equity of outcomes and an equal voice for Australia’s first people.
