Cringila Hills Mountain Bike Park
Overview
Cringila Hills Mountain Bike Park is Wollongong City Council's flagship purpose-built MTB facility, sitting on rehabilitated former-landfill / lantana-choked land roughly ten minutes south of Wollongong's CBD on the western shore of Lake Illawarra. The riding network — designed and built by Dirt Art — packs about 12 km of beginner-friendly singletrack onto a relatively small hill, with sweeping berms, switchbacks, a wall ride and a step-up keeping things interesting for stronger riders. The bulk of the trails are green and blue; a pair of black-graded jump lines sits inside a dedicated Jumps Park for beginner-to-intermediate progression.
Around the singletrack, Wollongong has built one of the better all-in-one bike precincts in NSW: a state-of-the-art asphalt pump track, a kids' bike skills playground, an inclusive (sensory-aware, partially wheelchair-accessible) themed playground, and 3.4 km of shared-use walking trails. The whole reserve — branded Cringila Hills Recreation Park — won 2023 NSW Park of the Year and then 2023 National Park of the Year (Parks and Leisure Australia), and was joint-funded by the Australian Government, NSW Government, and Wollongong City Council as a centrepiece of Wollongong's UCI Bike City programme.
It's free, sunrise-to-sunset, no booking required, no shuttle — a true community park rather than a destination gravity facility. Pedal-assist e-bikes are welcome; throttle/self-powered e-bikes are not.
Location & Access
- Address: 21 Lackawanna Street, Cringila NSW 2502
- Region: Illawarra / Wollongong
- Drive times: ~10 min south of Wollongong CBD; ~1 hr 40 min south of Sydney CBD via Princes Motorway (M1); ~3 hr north of Canberra
- Public transport: Limited — Cringila is served by Wollongong-area buses; no train station immediately at Cringila (nearest stations are Port Kembla / Unanderra). Practically car-only for visiting riders
- Parking: Free sealed car park off Lackawanna Street; gates locked outside sunrise–sunset hours
- Coords: -34.41256, 150.884538 (verified — matches Wollongong Council page)
Best Season & Conditions
- Peak riding season: Year-round — Illawarra coastal climate is mild. Autumn and spring are ideal (cool, dry); summer is rideable but humid
- Wet-weather impact: Trails may close during and immediately after heavy rain to protect surface — check Wollongong City Council website / Trailforks before riding. Riders are explicitly asked to avoid wet dirt
- Fire-danger / total-fire-ban impact: Not explicitly closed on TFB days — the site is a council recreation park rather than a national park
- Snow / alpine season: N/A — coastal lowland (~50–100 m elevation)
- School-holiday surge: Busier on weekends and school holidays, especially the playground, pump track and skills area; the singletrack stays fairly quiet
Managing Body & Trail Builders
- Land manager: Wollongong City Council
- Trail builder / designer: Dirt Art Pty Ltd (designed and constructed the 11.5 km MTB network and 3.1 km walking trails)
- Local club: Wollongong Mountain Bike Club — runs occasional working bees / events; landing page at https://wollongongmtbclub.com.au/cringila-hills-mountain-bike-park/
- Volunteer / dig days: Coordinated by Wollongong MTB Club — no public published schedule; contact club via website
- Donations / membership: Wollongong MTB Club membership at https://wollongongmtbclub.com.au/ (supports trail advocacy and dig days; council funds capital works)
History & Background
- The Cringila Hills site was previously a degraded reserve overgrown with lantana (and historically a landfill site in parts), unused by the local community
- Council commissioned a Cringila Hills Recreation Master Plan, with public consultation hosted at
our.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/cringila-hills
- Council resolved to engage Dirt Art Pty Ltd to design and construct 11.5 km of mountain-bike trails and 3.1 km of walking trails
- The park opened in late 2021 as a joint-funded project of the Australian Government, NSW Government, and Wollongong City Council
- The build was timed alongside Wollongong's hosting of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships and the city's UCI Bike City designation, positioning Cringila Hills as the local-community counterpart to the elite road event
- Awards:
- May 2023 — NSW Regional Park of the Year, Parks and Leisure Australia (NSW Awards of Excellence)
- October 2023 — National Park of the Year, Parks and Leisure Australia (Adelaide ceremony)
- The park is one component of a broader Illawarra MTB build-out: AMB Magazine reported in 2023 that 50+ km of additional trails were scheduled on the Illawarra escarpment, with Cringila Hills as the urban / community anchor
Recent News & Updates (last 12 months)
- 2025 — Park continues to operate as Wollongong's primary MTB community facility; no major expansion announced for Cringila itself, but the wider Illawarra escarpment trail programme continues to roll out
- No new trail openings or significant changes identified for 2024–2026 at this specific site (the 12 km network as built in 2021 remains the current configuration)
Sources
- Cringila Hills Mountain Bike Park — Wollongong City Council — https://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/places/sport-and-fitness/bike-city/cringila-hills-mountain-bike-park — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — official)
- Cringila Hills MTB Park Map — Wollongong City Council — https://wollongong.nsw.gov.au/places/sport-and-fitness/bike-city/cringila-hills-mountain-bike-park/cringila-hills-mtb-park-map — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — official trails page)
- Cringila Hills Bike Park Map PDF (2.2 MB) — https://wollongong.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/145179/Cringila-Hills-Bike-Park-Map-2.pdf — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — official PDF map)
- Cringila Hills Mountain Bike Park — Wollongong Mountain Bike Club — https://wollongongmtbclub.com.au/cringila-hills-mountain-bike-park/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 2 — local club)
- Places That Rock: Cringila Hills MTB Park — AMB Magazine (Jul 2023) — https://www.ambmag.com.au/feature/places-that-rock-cringila-hills-mtb-park-591815/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — magazine feature)
- Cringila Hills Mountain Bike Park — NSW Government / Visit NSW — https://www.nsw.gov.au/visiting-and-exploring-nsw/locations-and-attractions/cringila-hills-mountain-bike-park — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 3 — tourism)
- Cringila Hills Mountain Bike Park — Visit NSW (south coast) — https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/south-coast/wollongong-and-surrounds/wollongong/attractions/cringila-hills-mountain-bike-park — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 3 — tourism)
- Cringila MTB Park — Ride Wollongong (Destination Wollongong) — https://ridewollongong.com.au/cringila-mtb-park/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 3 — tourism)
- Cringila Hills Recreation Park secures NSW Park of the Year — Australasian Leisure Management — https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/cringila-hills-recreation-park-secures-nsw-regional-park-of-the-year-award/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — industry news)
- For parks and recreation, Cringila Hills comes out on top — Wollongong City Council news (May 2023) — https://www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/whats-on/news-and-alerts/news/news/may-2023/for-parks-and-recreation,-cringila-hills-comes-out-on-top — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — official news)
- Cringila Hills Recreation Master Plan — Our Wollongong — https://our.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/cringila-hills — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 1 — master plan / Dirt Art commission)
- Cringilla Hills Recreation Park guide — Parents Guide Illawarra — https://parents-guide.com.au/cringilla-hills-recreation-park-playground/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 6 — community guide; sourced for facility details, playground accessibility)
- Trailforks region — Cringila Hills Bike Park — https://www.trailforks.com/region/cringila-hills-bike-park/ — accessed 2026-05-19 (tier 4 — returns 403 to bots but resolves in browser)