Warburton Bike Park in 2026: Every Trail Open Now (70km and Counting)

· MTB Trails Australia

Park Review VIC Trail Guide Shuttles

Warburton Bike Park has 30 named trails across roughly 70 km of open singletrack, 70 km east of central Melbourne, with a shuttle running to the summit of Mt Tugwell since 4 April 2026. Thirteen months ago it had 30 km and no uplift. That's the fastest a network has grown in this country since Derby.

Almost everything written about the place is stuck at one of three moments: the July 2025 opening, the April 2026 shuttle launch, or a tourism listing that hasn't been touched since. Here's what's actually on the ground now — every trail, every grade, every length — plus a straight answer on the question the marketing copy dodges, which is whether a genuine first-timer should be riding here at all.

Quick picks

Warburton Bike Park at a glance
Named trails in the operator directory 30 (11 green, 14 blue, 5 black)
Open network 70 km+ (operator homepage says 80 km+)
Longest trail Earn Ya Ferns, 8.2 km
Shuttle descent ~650 m from Mt Tugwell
Self-powered climb to the summit 14 km+
Main trailhead Wesburn Park
Parking Free at Wesburn Park
Toilets, showers, bike wash, pump track Yes, all at Wesburn Park
Shuttle days 7 days in school holidays; weekends off-peak
Trail builder World Trail
Managed by Yarra Ranges Council
Opened 19 July 2025 (Stage 1A, 30 km)
Target network 160 km with 800 m of vertical

So how big is Warburton Bike Park — 70 km or 80 km?

Depends which page you read, and both figures come from the same operator.

The trail directory heads its page with 70 km of trails available. The homepage says over 80 km are now open. Add up the individual lengths of all 30 trails in that same directory and you get 85.5 km — 33.1 km of green, 43.4 km of blue, 9.0 km of black.

None of those numbers is wrong, exactly. A directory listing includes trails that are signed and named but not currently open to ride, and Warburton closes sections routinely for works and for weather. The 70 km figure is the conservative "you can ride this today" answer; 85.5 km is what's been cut and named. If you're driving out for a day, plan around 70 and treat the rest as upside.

The 160 km number is a different thing again — that's the completed vision, and the 800 m of vertical attached to it is the finished build-out, not what the shuttle drops you at right now. Australian Mountain Bike reported a 125 km "Southern Network" on track for 2027. Warburton is a park quoted in future tense more often than present tense, which is why an actual trail list is worth having.

Every trail open now, by grade

Lengths are the operator's own. Grades are to international standards, which matters — see the beginner section below.

Green (11 trails, 33.1 km)

Trail Length What it is
Bitta This Bitta That 5.7 km Climb to the Mt Little Joe summit through fern gullies
Uptown Flow 5.6 km Long climb from the rail trail into the network
Warburtron 5.2 km The new beginner "airflow" trail — gentle berms, rollable jumps
Rubber Stamp 3.0 km Climb from Wesburn trailhead through dry forest
Milling Around 2.8 km Loop around the western side of Mt Little Joe
Settle Down 2.7 km Descent off the Mt Little Joe summit
Runaway Bride 2.6 km Flowing descent through natural gullies
Hop Scotch 1.6 km Flow — berms, rollers, jumps
Zinglefun 1.5 km Flow descent back to Wesburn Park
3 Owls 1.3 km Gentle descent through open bushland
Tools Down 1.1 km Shortcut off Bitta This Bitta That

Blue (14 trails, 43.4 km)

Trail Length What it is
Earn Ya Ferns 8.2 km The main climbing trail — fern gullies, creek crossings
Fubba Gubba 5.8 km Flow blended with technical sections
Captain Crayfish 4.6 km Jumps, berms and rock rolls, good views
Hey Hey My My 4.2 km Steep climb, then fast and flowy with jumps
Onya Lyre 3.5 km Smooth machine-built track through dry bushland
Mad Max 3.3 km New in April 2026 — sculpted berms, progressive jumps
Wattsup 2.8 km Steady climb on smooth switchbacks
Mine Your Manners 2.2 km Climbing link between junctions
Ripple Effect 1.7 km Quick descent from the Mt Little Joe summit
Yankee Jim 1.7 km Fern gully traverse with water crossings
Cupla Weeks 1.6 km Link trail, gentle climbing
The Riddler 1.4 km Big berms, well-placed jumps
Gnarnia 1.3 km Playful, multiple line options
Mind Drift 1.1 km Gentle gradient around Mineshaft Hill

Black (5 trails, 9.0 km)

Trail Length What it is
Warpij 3.0 km Old-school gravity, steep technical finish
Barefoot Wizard 2.2 km Off-camber, rock gardens, proper technical gravity
Scrubaroo 1.8 km Starts variable, builds to technical rock
Shred Galah 1.4 km New in April 2026 — hand-built, raw, one serious rock garden
Acka Dacka 0.6 km Short, steep, flowy berms and jumps

Nine kilometres of black across a 70 km network is a thin slice, and it's the honest limit on Warburton right now. Gravity riders coming from Buller or Thredbo will run out of new black inside a single shuttle day. The blues, though, are the deepest part of the park and several of them ride harder than blue does elsewhere.

What are the new trails — Shred Galah, Mad Max and Warburtron?

These three opened with the expansion on 4 April 2026 and they're the ones worth going out of your way for.

Shred Galah is 1.4 km of hand-built black. That's the key word — hand-built, not machine-groomed, so it keeps the raw character and the rock garden partway down hasn't been sanitised. AMB spells it "Shred Gallah"; the operator's own directory spells it with one L, after the bird.

Mad Max is the opposite approach: 3.3 km of machine-built blue with sculpted berms and jumps that build progressively, so you can roll the whole thing the first lap and start sending sections on the second. It's the trail most people will ride four or five times in a shuttle day.

Warburtron is 5.2 km of green "airflow" — the operator's term for beginner-grade trail with rolling jumps and gentle berms rather than the flat, featureless green you get at older networks. If you're bringing kids or a partner who's newer to jumps, this is the trail that justifies the drive.

How do the Warburton shuttles work?

The shuttle picks up at Warburton and at Wesburn Park Trailhead and drops at the summit of Mt Tugwell, the highest point in the park. From there it's roughly 650 m of descent back down. The alternative is a climb of 14 km or more, which is a real ride in itself and part of why the uplift changed the park's character so completely.

Buses run continuously — you join the queue and take the next one, with unlimited runs for the duration of your pass. Four pass types: full day, morning half day (9:00am–12:00pm), afternoon half day (1:00pm–4:00pm), and a Single Uplift Shuttle Pass from

0 if you only want one run. The half-day windows are fixed year-round; the full-day window shifts with the season.

Period Operating hours Days
4–19 April 2026 (peak) 9am–5pm 7 days
20 April – 18 September 2026 (off-peak) 9am–4pm Saturdays and Sundays
19 September 2026 – 25 March 2027 (peak) 9am–5pm 7 days in school holidays, weekends otherwise
26 March – 17 September 2027 (off-peak) 9am–4pm Saturdays and Sundays

Private midweek group bookings are available outside those days. Prices sit on the booking page rather than the pass-information pages: the All Day Shuttle Uplift Pass is $80 off-peak and

00 in peak season, and the Morning and Afternoon Shuttle Passes are $50 each. Book through warburtonbikepark.com.au and confirm the current rate there rather than trusting a number you read in a forum thread.

A few rules that catch people out. Minimum age to ride the shuttle is 6, and under-14s need a parent or guardian on the same uplift session — not just somewhere in the park. Kids under 6 riding on a parent's bike travel free. Your pass is a QR code and you get a wristband at first scan. Your bike needs two working brakes and front suspension, and you need an Australian-standard helmet and closed-toe shoes. A hardtail is fine. A rigid gravel bike is not.

Worth knowing if you're comparing options: Warburton's uplift is now one of a small handful of genuine shuttle operations in the country, and it's covered alongside the others in our guide to shuttle-served bike parks in Australia.

Is Warburton Bike Park good for beginners?

Not for genuine first-timers, and this is the one place where the marketing and the reality diverge.

Warburton's trails are graded to international standards. The operator says so plainly, and the practical consequence is that a Warburton green rides harder than a green at a suburban network built to a local scale. Warburton Adventure Co, who hire bikes in town and know exactly who's coming back rattled, go further and say the park's green trails aren't suited to newcomers at all — they steer novices onto the Warburton to Lilydale Rail Trail, the O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail, or the gravel run from Mt Bride to Warburton via Big Pats Creek instead.

That's good advice, not a knock on the park. If you've ridden green flow trails elsewhere and you're comfortable with speed and berms, Warburtron and Zinglefun will be a good time. If you have never ridden singletrack, start on the rail trail, build some handling, and come back. Our guide to Australian MTB trail grades covers what the colours actually mean and why they drift between networks.

The park does have a genuine adaptive route — the Wesburn Shorty — and a pump track at Wesburn Park, which makes it a workable family stop even if the network above isn't beginner terrain yet.

When should you ride it, and what happens after rain?

Warburton sits in wet, fern-gullied country on the edge of the Yarra Valley, and the upper mountain closes ahead of forecast rain. Not after — ahead of. Individual trails also shut at any time for maintenance or safety, which in a network this young means fairly often.

Check the operator's site or their socials the morning you drive out. A 90-minute run from Melbourne to find the upper mountain shut is a bad Saturday, and it's entirely avoidable. Autumn and spring are the sweet spot: the dirt holds moisture without turning to mud, and the fern gullies are at their best. Summer riding is fine down low but the climbs get hot.

Getting there, parking and where to eat

Wesburn Park is the main trailhead and the one to aim for. Parking is free, and there are toilets, showers, a bike wash, picnic areas, a playground and the pump track. It's also a shuttle pick-up point. Watch for shuttle vehicles crossing near Mt Bride Road.

You can also start from Warburton town, which puts you within walking distance of a dozen cafes. Town parking sits along the Yarra River Walk, at Story Reserve, the skatepark, Dammans Road and the Recreation Reserve — but the operator warns that restrictions apply in the town centre and that inspectors patrol the residential streets in both Warburton and Wesburn, so read the signs.

For food and repairs, Cog Bike Shop and its attached Bikes & Brew cafe sit at 42 Station Road and cover hire, service and coffee in one stop. Silva Coffee Roasters is the other coffee option. The Alpine Hotel, an 1885 building with river views, does pizza on Saturdays. Closer to Wesburn, The Flying Apron and the Yarra Valley Artisan Bakery are the pre-ride stops.

Making a weekend of it is straightforward — Warburton slots neatly into our roundup of MTB weekend trips from Melbourne.

What's coming next?

The project was first proposed in 2010, so it's taken over a decade and a half to get here. World Trail built it, Yarra Ranges Council runs it, and funding came from the Federal and State Governments, the council, Upper Yarra Community Enterprise and the Warburton and Yarra Junction Community Bank, with development done alongside the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Melbourne Water.

Australian Mountain Bike reported a 125 km Southern Network targeted for 2027, and the operator's stated vision is 160 km with 800 m of vertical. Take those as intent rather than a timetable — but the jump from 30 km to 70 km inside twelve months suggests the build rate is real. Warburton features in our list of the best new MTB parks in Australia for 2026 for exactly that reason.

Park ambassador Paul van der Ploeg, a cross-country World Champion, sums up the appeal in one line: "The area has an incredibly diverse landscape, all on Melbourne's doorstep."

FAQ

How many trails does Warburton Bike Park have? Thirty named trails appear in the operator's trail directory as of August 2026: 11 green, 14 blue and 5 black. Those trails sum to about 85.5 km, though the operator quotes 70 km as currently open riding, with sections closed for works or weather at any given time.

How far is Warburton Bike Park from Melbourne? About 70 km east of the CBD, or roughly 90 minutes' drive. The operator claims it's the closest mountain bike destination to a major airport in Australia. Aim for the Wesburn Park trailhead rather than Warburton town if you want the free parking and the full facilities.

How much does the Warburton Bike Park shuttle cost? The All Day Shuttle Uplift Pass is $80 off-peak and

00 in peak season, with unlimited runs. The Morning Shuttle Pass (9:00am–12:00pm) and the Afternoon Shuttle Pass (1:00pm–4:00pm) are $50 each. Those rates are on the booking page rather than the pass-information pages, so confirm before you book.

When did Warburton Bike Park open? Stage 1A opened on 19 July 2025 with 30 km of trail, drawing more than 1,100 riders over the opening weekend. The expansion that more than doubled the network, along with the Mt Tugwell shuttle service, opened on 4 April 2026.

Can you ride e-bikes at Warburton Bike Park? Trailforks lists 63 e-bike-legal trails in the region, so most of the network is open to them in practice. The operator publishes no e-bike policy of its own, and nothing on whether they can be carried on the uplift, so ask the park directly before you plan a shuttle day around one.

If you only have one day and the shuttle is running, book a full-day pass, spend the morning learning Mad Max and Warpij off the top, then finish with a lap of Earn Ya Ferns under your own power so you know what the climb costs. Check conditions on the official Warburton Bike Park site before you leave, and see what else is worth riding nearby on the Victorian trails page or the map of VIC parks.