Hobbs Rd MTB

Overview

Hobbs Road MTB is an informal cross-country trail network straddling two adjoining land tenures about an hour north-west of Melbourne — the Hobbs Road Bushland Reserve (managed by Macedon Ranges Shire Council) and the adjacent Pyrete Range block of Lerderderg State Park (managed by Parks Victoria). Locally the trails are known as the "Yellow Dot" trails, named for the yellow spray-painted dots on trees that mark the routes. Trailforks lists 9 trails covering ~25 km with 448 m of total descent (Trailforks Hobbs Road region).

The riding character is tight, twisting cross-country singletrack over scattered pyrete (volcanic) rock and sandy soil through bushland, with sections of flow, narrow bridges, small ramps and a couple of optional jumps near Hobbs Road and a step jump near the western end (Bancoora). The roadside link trail along Hobbs Road itself is rideable both ways (~7 km each way) and is a relatively easy connector between the Yellow Dot loops.

The network is maintained informally by riders rather than a sanctioned trail-building program. The local club GaS MTB (Gisborne and Surrounds) runs social rides here and members maintain the trails (gasmtb.com). Trailforks explicitly tags the region as "Unsanctioned, Ride at your own Risk." Parks Victoria's own materials say bushwalking and mountain bike riding are permitted on management vehicle tracks in the Pyrete Range, and the wider park is a significant water catchment with no horse-riding, motorcycling, 4WD or firearms allowed; the singletrack trails on the Parks Vic side are ridden but not officially recognised as MTB infrastructure.

Location & Access

• Address: Hobbs Road, Bullengarook VIC 3437 (about 2.5 km west of Gisborne CBD; trails span the Council reserve and the Lerderderg State Park Pyrete Range block)
• Region: Macedon Ranges
• Drive times: ~55–65 min from Melbourne CBD (via M8/Western Freeway then Calder); ~25 min from Bacchus Marsh; ~10 min from Gisborne; ~50 min from Ballarat
• Public transport: None practical — V/Line trains stop at Gisborne (~3 km away) but no bus links to the trailhead
• Parking: Free roadside parking at multiple points along Hobbs Road and at the Firth Road / Carrolls Lane area; no formal car park
• Coords: -37.4838, 144.5432 (Trailforks region pin; matches DB)

Best Season & Conditions

• Peak riding season: Autumn (Mar–May) and spring (Sep–Nov) — dry, cool conditions on the rocky/sandy base ride well
• Wet-weather impact: Trails have a clay base and become muddy and slippery after rain; locals advise letting them dry out for at least a day or two after heavy rain to avoid trail damage and falls (Bancoora)
• Fire-danger / total-fire-ban impact: Parks Victoria explicitly recommends visitors do not enter the Pyrete Range on days of high fire danger — the area is steep, rugged old-growth forest with limited exit routes (Pyrete Range Visitor Guide)
• Snow / alpine season: Not applicable — low elevation
• School-holiday surge: Light traffic year-round; this is a locals' network rather than a destination park
• Recent conditions (Trailforks): Multiple "All Clear / Green" reports through late 2025 and into early–mid 2026 (Oct 4 2025, Oct 6 2025, Feb 9 2026, Apr 4 2026 reports, all marking dry to ideal conditions)

Managing Body & Trail Builders

• Land manager (Council reserve portion): Macedon Ranges Shire Council — Hobbs Road Bushland Reserve, with an Environmental Management Plan adopted in 2013 (MRSC reserve page, EMP PDF)
• Land manager (state park portion): Parks Victoria — Pyrete Range block of Lerderderg State Park
• Trail builder / maintainer: GaS MTB Club (Gisborne and Surrounds Mountain Bike Club) — members maintain the Hobbs Rd trails informally. The club is family-friendly, runs three social ride streams ("Full GaS", "Half GaS" and "GaSettes" for younger riders) and welcomes non-members on rides (gasmtb.com)
• Volunteer / dig days: No public dig-day schedule found — work appears to be informal and rider-led. Best contact is via the GaS MTB website / Facebook
• Donations / membership: GaS MTB membership and contact details on their site

History & Background

• The Pyrete Range covers a large area of relatively undisturbed old-growth forest in steep, rugged terrain between Mt Bullengarook and Mt Gisborne, and forms a substantial part of the Lake Merrimu Water Supply Catchment (Pyrete Range Visitor Guide).
• The land is the traditional country of the Wurundjeri and Wathaurong peoples and holds social, cultural and spiritual significance; waterways and distinctive natural features are likely to have high Aboriginal cultural heritage sensitivity (RCS biolink prospectus).
• European occupation began in the 1830s with squatter pastoral runs around Bacchus Marsh; alluvial gold was found in the Lerderderg River and tributaries from 1851 (the same gold rush that created Blackwood township). The Pyrete Range itself was less heavily worked than the gorge to the north.
• The "Yellow Dot" name comes from yellow spray-painted dots on trees used to mark routes through the bushland — a low-tech navigation aid that pre-dates Trailforks coverage of the area.
• Trail provenance: Macedon Ranges Shire Council's reserve description acknowledges that "a number of these tracks [were] created by mountain bikers, who have established a network of circuits and jumps throughout the reserve" (MRSC). The trails appeared organically rather than via a formal trail plan; specific build dates and individual trail-builder names are not publicly documented.
• The 2013 Hobbs Road Bushland Reserve Environmental Management Plan formally acknowledged the rider-built tracks as part of the reserve's existing condition. No public document indicates the trails have been officially sanctioned by Parks Victoria within the State Park boundary, and Trailforks tags the network as unsanctioned.

Recent News & Updates (last 12 months)

• 2026-04-04 — Yellow Dot trail report on Trailforks: "All Clear / Green, ideal conditions, cleared." (report 4520475)
• 2026-02-09 — Yellow Dot trail report: All Clear, ideal. (report 4452597)
• 2025-10-06 — Hobbs Road between Yellow Dots: All Clear / Green, dry. (report 4295474)
• 2025-10-04 — Hobbs Road between Yellow Dots: All Clear / Green, very dry / dusty. (report 4291271)
• No closures, sanctioning announcements, or major Parks Victoria policy changes affecting the Pyrete Range MTB use surfaced in the search window.

Sources

1. Trailforks — Hobbs Road region — https://www.trailforks.com/region/hobbs-road/ — accessed 2026-05-07 (verified via search; direct WebFetch returns 403 Cloudflare)
2. Parks Victoria — Lerderderg State Park — https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/places-to-see/parks/lerderderg-state-park — accessed 2026-05-07
3. Bancoora — Hobbs Road Trail Information — http://www.bancoora.com/Lerderderg%20Park%20Rides/Lerderderg%20Hobbs%20Road%20Trail%20Information.html — accessed 2026-05-07
4. Bancoora — Gisborne Loop Trail Information — http://www.bancoora.com/Lerderderg%20Park%20Rides/Lerderderg%20Gisborne%20Loop%20Trail%20Information.html — accessed 2026-05-07
5. GaS MTB Club — Home — https://gasmtb.com/index.html — accessed 2026-05-07
6. GaS MTB Club — Local Trail (Hobbs Road) — https://gasmtb.com/local-trail.html — accessed 2026-05-07
7. Macedon Ranges Shire Council — Hobbs Road Reserve — https://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/See-Do/Parks-Gardens-Reserves/Find-a-park/Hobbs-Road-Reserve — accessed 2026-05-07
8. Macedon Ranges Shire Council — Hobbs Road Bushland Reserve EMP (June 2013, PDF) — https://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/4/build-amp-plan/planning-for-our-future/panel-attachment-j-environmental-management-plan-hobbs-road-bushland-reserve-bullengarook-june-2013.pdf — accessed 2026-05-07
9. Port Phillip & Western Port RCS — Pyretes to Long Forest Biolink — https://portphillipwesternport.rcs.vic.gov.au/prospectus/pyretes-biolink-to-long-forest-biolink/ — accessed 2026-05-07