Bare Creek MTB Park

Overview

Bare Creek Bike Park is a purpose-built, council-operated gravity / freeride park in Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches. It sits on the remediated footprint of the former Belrose Waste Management Centre (a landfill that closed in November 2014), giving it the unusual quality of a hand-shaped hill in an otherwise flat sandstone-plateau landscape. The park opened to the public in December 2020 after a multi-year design and build by Dirt Art under lead designer Tom Mallett, in collaboration with local advocacy group TrailCare.

The 1.6 km network is short by national-park standards but dense: every metre is shaped, jumped, or bermed. The brief from day one was progression — beginner-rollable flow lines through to a pro-only freeride line with mandatory gaps and large drops. Trails are sculpted from red clay sandstone fill, so the surface rides fast and tacky but is extremely vulnerable to rain and wind — individual trails are routinely closed by the volunteer trail crew at short notice. An asphalt pump track and a dedicated dirt-jump pad (with four progression lines) sit alongside the gravity trails, giving the park a session-style character rather than the cross-country loop of typical Sydney MTB venues.

The park is free, dawn-to-dusk in spirit but formally gated 7am–7pm, and serves both as the de-facto gravity training ground for the Sydney basin and as a destination day-trip for visiting riders. It's managed by Northern Beaches Council and was funded ($3.5M) via the NSW Waste Assets Management Corporation's Enhancement Fund —

per tonne of waste set aside during the landfill's working life.

Location & Access

Best Season & Conditions

Managing Body & Trail Builders

History & Background

per tonne of waste during the landfill's operating life, raising $3.5 million earmarked for the site's future community use.
  • Northern Beaches mountain bikers (via Manly Warringah MTB Club and TrailCare) lobbied for over a decade for a gravity-focused bike park on the rehabilitated site, joining a Community Advisory Committee in 2008.
  • Earthworks and design started in November 2017, using ~80,000 m³ of sandstone to cap and re-shape the contaminated site.
  • Dirt Art (under Tom Mallett's lead) was contracted to design and build the trails in collaboration with TrailCare and Council.
  • The park officially opened on 10 December 2020 by the NSW Government and Northern Beaches Council.
  • Construction cost was ~ million;
    .5 million transferred to Council for ongoing operations.
  • The site has since drawn international rider attention and is regarded as the Sydney basin's headline progression / freeride venue.
  • Recent News & Updates (last 12 months)

    Sources

    1. Bare Creek Bike Park — Northern Beaches Councilhttps://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/recreation-area/bare-creek-bike-park — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — official operator)
    2. Bare Creek Bike Park (volunteer site, homepage)https://www.barecreekbikepark.com — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 2 — volunteer/community)
    3. Bare Creek Bike Park — Trail Maphttps://www.barecreekbikepark.com/trail-map — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 2 — community trails listing)
    4. Bare Creek Bike Park — About the Parkhttps://www.barecreekbikepark.com/about-the-park — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 2)
    5. Mountain biking safety information — Bare Creek (NBC)https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/parks-and-trails/bike-tracks/bare-creek-bike-park/safety-information — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1)
    6. Bare Creek Bike Park — PDNSW (NSW Government)https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/property-and-development-nsw/what-we-do/contaminated-land-management/bare-creek-bike-park — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — funding & site history)
    7. Places That Rock: Bare Creek Bike Park — Australian Mountain Bike (AMB)https://www.ambmag.com.au/feature/places-that-rock-bare-creek-bike-park-567149/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — magazine feature)
    8. Bare Creek Bike Park Opens In Belrose — Pittwater Online Newshttps://www.pittwateronlinenews.com/Bare-Creek-Bike-Park-Opens-in-Belrose.php — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — local news, opening date)
    9. Tom Mallett — The Story Behind Bare Creek (Vital MTB)https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Tom-Mallett-The-Story-Behind-Bare-Creek-Bike-Park,3110 — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — designer profile)
    10. Boy falls at Bare Creek — Northern Beaches Advocatehttps://www.northernbeachesadvocate.com.au/2024/08/26/boy-falls-at-bare-creek/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — recent news / safety context)
    11. Bare Creek Bike Park — Trailforkshttps://www.trailforks.com/region/bare-creek-bike-park-43315/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 4 — URL verified, page returns 403 to scraping)