Jubes Bike Park

Overview

Jubes Mountain Bike Park (commonly "Jubes") is a small, purpose-built MTB facility at the back of Golden Jubilee Field in North Wahroonga, on Sydney's Upper North Shore. Opened in late 2011 it claims to be Sydney's first purpose-built MTB park. The site sits on a pocket of cleared ridgeline backing onto Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. It is managed by Ku-ring-gai Council in partnership with a volunteer-led TrailCare program.

The park is laid out as three discrete zones rather than a connected trail network: a skills development area with elevated timber bridges and rock features, a multi-level dirt pump track (beginner / intermediate / advanced lines plus a return loop), and four downhill-style jump trails of progressing difficulty (Spring Roll, Catapult, Dogit and Grand Slam) dropping from a shared start pad. A short flow / berm trail (Blue Metal) and a black-graded line (South Side) round out the on-site offering. The neighbouring Old Mans Valley fire trail / Jubes-to-Bobbin-Head link tracks provide longer pedal-out options into the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai Chase NP reserves.

Jubes is best understood as a coaching / progression venue: short laps, walk-back access, lots of repetition. It is not a destination network — riders looking for distance head to Old Mans Valley, Manly Dam or the Royal National Park. What Jubes offers that Sydney has few of is a permitted, council-sanctioned skills area with proper jumps, where teenagers and progressing kids can session lines without being moved on.

Location & Access

Address: Esk Street, North Wahroonga NSW 2076 (rear of Golden Jubilee Field, past the SES unit)
Drive from Sydney CBD: ~30 km / 35–45 min via Pacific Hwy / M1
Drive from Hornsby: ~6 km / 10 min via Pacific Hwy
Closest train station: Wahroonga (~2.5 km) or Waitara — both on the T1 North Shore line; walk or short pedal
Parking: free, at the rear of the Golden Jubilee Field car park — "drive the entire way through the carpark, making your way as far back as possible" past the SES Unit. A gravel access track leads down to the bike area.
Alternate access: North Wahroonga Fire Trail (for riders pedalling in from the surrounding reserve)
Lat/Long (DB): -33.700173, 151.09123

Best Season & Conditions

Sydney's mild climate makes Jubes a year-round venue, but the surface is fine red/clay dirt that turns slippery and damages quickly when wet.
Wet-weather closures — Council closes the park after rain and posts status on the Ku-ring-gai Council website and the Jubes MTB Park Facebook group. Riders are asked not to ride wet trails.
Wind closures — Some features (notably the higher elevated skills bridges) are closed when wind speed exceeds ~25 km/h from particular directions.
Summer fire-danger days — Standard NSW Rural Fire Service bushland access rules apply; the park can be closed in severe / catastrophic conditions.
Best riding window: mid-morning to mid-afternoon, autumn–spring (cooler, drier surface). Avoid the first 24–48 hr after rain.

Managing Body & Trail Builders

Land manager: Ku-ring-gai Council (Things to do > Sport and fitness > Mountain biking > Jubes Mountain Bike Park)
Volunteer program: Council-run TrailCare program — community trail crew responsible for maintenance, condition monitoring and feature closures
Volunteer leadership: Alison and Damian Underwood — long-time TrailCare leads who drove the post-2021 rejuvenation; they manage the @jubes_mtb_park Instagram and Facebook community
Trail builders / consultants:
Synergy Trails — rebuilt the pump and flow tracks in 2013 (same crew that designed Old Mans Valley)
Keystone Trails (Sydney) — current TrailCare-aligned design / construction partner working with council and youth volunteers; transformed the park into a "progressive hub for local youth"
Community channels:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jubes_mtb_park/
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/421529709152658

History & Background

2011 — Jubes opens, claimed as Sydney's first purpose-built MTB park. Original plans included singletrack to Clissold Quarry and the Grosvenor Trail but were curtailed after community opposition; final build was a constrained ridgeline pocket with ~800 m of flow trail and no jumps.
Early 2012 — Closed for redevelopment after the original build suffered erosion.
2013 — Synergy Trails rebuilds the pump track and flow line; four jump trails added off a new start pad.
2010s — Park enters a period of patchy maintenance; Galston Community Association noted facilities and surface had become run-down.
2021–2022 — Local volunteers (Underwoods + youth) revive the park under council's TrailCare banner; Ku-ring-gai Living reports new community momentum and active partnership with Keystone Trails. Top priority publicly stated was funding an asphalt pump track to lower the entry-skill threshold.
2023–2026 — Ongoing TrailCare volunteer maintenance days, occasional open days; the park has stabilised as a council-run progression venue with an active volunteer base.