Kalamunda Trails

Overview

Kalamunda Trails is the largest and busiest purpose-built mountain bike network in Western Australia, sitting in the Perth Hills only 40 minutes' drive east of central Perth. The network is woven through Kalamunda National Park and the surrounding State Forest in the Paulls Valley / Pickering Brook area, on land managed by the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). Operations, signage, and ongoing trail-building are coordinated by the Kalamunda Mountain Bike Collective (KMBC) — formally The Kalamunda Mountain Bike Trails Association Inc. (ABN 41 798 385 079).

The system offers 40–50 km of fully signed, one-way single-track graded to IMBA standards: roughly 6 km of green, 34 km of blue, and a small but iconic set of black-diamond descents. The character is "Perth Hills" — loose pea-gravel laterite over jarrah/marri woodland, with rolling climbs that link to short, fast descents. The Mt Gunjin trails (built by Tasmanian specialist Dirt Art) anchor the gravity end of the network, with two black trails — Luvin Shovels and Lancaster — running off the summit and a third, Loco en el Coco, holding the technical line. A volunteer-run Sunday shuttle uplifts riders to Gunjin in season.

Beyond the gravity zone, the network is welcoming to first-timers: the Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll skills loop and the Black Stump Pump Track (built September 2012) sit close to a main trailhead, and six waymarked themed loops — Beginners/Kids, Easy Cruisy, Dell, Three of Spades, Farrell Grove, and the original Kalamunda Circuit — give riders predictable options without map-reading. Multiple bike-hire operators, a café at Calamunda Camel Farm, and the through-route of the 1,000 km Munda Biddi long-distance trail make it the default starting point for any Perth MTB itinerary.

Location & Access

Address: Multiple trailheads off Mundaring Weir Road, Paulls Valley / Kalamunda WA 6076. Main trailheads: Calamunda Camel Farm, Farrell Grove, Black Stump, The Dell.
Region: Perth Hills
Drive times: ~40 min from Perth CBD; ~25 min from Perth Airport; ~15 min from Midland.
Public transport: Limited — Transperth bus services run to Kalamunda town centre; trailheads are 5–10 km further along Mundaring Weir Road. Car strongly recommended.
Parking: Free at all four DBCA-managed trailheads. Calamunda Camel Farm is the largest; Farrell Grove and The Dell are smaller; Black Stump serves the west of the network.
Coords: -31.96347, 116.10716 (Trails WA lists -31.99465, 116.11793 — both fall inside the network footprint)

Best Season & Conditions

Peak riding season: Autumn through spring (March – November). Trails ride best the day after light rain when the laterite pea-gravel binds.
Wet-weather impact: Trails generally remain open in winter but become slick; one-way signage helps avoid mishaps.
Fire-danger / total-fire-ban impact: State Forest may close during Total Fire Ban / Harvest and Vehicle Movement Bans in summer. Always check DBCA Alerts before riding.
Snow / alpine season: Not applicable.
Mid-summer: Hot, dry, dusty — soil becomes loose. Most local riders shift to early-morning sessions or sit out the worst weeks.
School-holiday surge: Sunday shuttle days book out fast; arrive early.

Managing Body & Trail Builders

Land manager: WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) — Kalamunda National Park (national park) and surrounding State Forest (Pickering Brook). Mundaring Parks and Wildlife Office (08) 9290 6100.
Trail operator / maintainer: Kalamunda Mountain Bike Collective (KMBC) — Kalamunda Mountain Bike Trails Association Inc.
Trail builders engaged on the network:
- Dirt Art — built the Mt Gunjin gravity trails
- Common Ground Trails — prepared the 2022 KMBC network concept plan and is the lead designer for the next 18 km expansion
- Joey Klein (Canadian, IMBA Trail Solutions) — ran an on-site trail-building workshop; Joey's Line is named after him
- KMBC volunteers — ongoing maintenance and small-section building
Volunteer / dig days: Periodically organised; details on KMBC Facebook and Instagram.
Donations / membership: https://www.kmbc.org.au/memberships
Council partnerships: City of Kalamunda; State Government via Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.

History & Background

The original Kalamunda Circuit, the loop that became the seed for the modern network, opened in 2011 around Calamunda Camel Farm.
The Black Stump Pump Track was constructed in September 2012, providing a children/beginner anchor at the western trailhead.
The Mt Gunjin gravity trails were added later by Dirt Art, giving the network its first proper black-diamond descents — two trails feeding off Mt Gunjin's summit with ~100 m vertical.
A KMBC-led network concept plan was prepared by Common Ground Trails (finalised March 2022) with input from DBCA, land managers, and KMBC. The plan identified 18 km of new trail and upgrades to trail hubs, Gunjin Road, and parking, paving the way for staged rollout.
The Whadjuk Noongar people are acknowledged as Traditional Owners of the country the trails sit on.
Kalamunda is the northern terminus of the Bibbulmun Track (1,000 km foot trail to Albany) and the Munda Biddi Trail (long-distance MTB route) runs through the network — both predate the MTB network and shaped trailhead siting.

Sources

Kalamunda Mountain Bike Collective — Trails page — https://www.kmbc.org.au/trails — accessed 2026-05-20
Kalamunda Mountain Bike Collective — Steady Rack Shuttles event — https://www.kmbc.org.au/events-1/steady-rack-shuttles-3 — accessed 2026-05-20
Kalamunda Mountain Bike Collective — News page — https://www.kmbc.org.au/news — accessed 2026-05-20
City of Kalamunda — Cycling & Mountain Biking — https://www.kalamunda.wa.gov.au/recreation-tourism/outdoors/cycling — accessed 2026-05-20
Trails WA — Kalamunda MTB Trails — https://trailswa.com.au/trails/trail-networks/kalamunda-mtb-trails — accessed 2026-05-20
Experience Perth Hills — Kalamunda Mountain Bike Trails — https://experienceperthhills.com.au/things-to-do/kalamunda-mountain-bike-trails/ — accessed 2026-05-20
DBCA Explore Parks — Kalamunda National Park — https://exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/park/kalamunda-national-park — accessed 2026-05-20
Singletracks — Kalamunda Mountain Bike Trails — https://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/kalamunda-mountain-bike-trails/ — accessed 2026-05-20
Black Ram MTB — Kalamunda locations — https://www.blackrammtb.com.au/locations/kalamunda — accessed 2026-05-20
KMBC Network Concept Plan (Common Ground Trails, 2022) — https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cc7e74718d2e6000151c2f4/t/6248604f6c76b76db52d8603/1648910552380/Kalamunda+MTB+Network+Concept+FINAL.pdf — accessed 2026-05-20