You Yangs Park Office-MTB
Overview
The Park Office trailhead is the southern entrance to the You Yangs Mountain Bike Park network and the gateway to Kurrajong Plantation — the easier, family-friendly half of the network. Where the Stockyards trailhead (Drysdale Rd, ~5 km north) puts riders straight onto rocky XC and downhill, the Park Office entrance opens onto roughly 20 km of mostly flat, fast-flowing singletrack winding through established eucalypt plantations. Three signed loops (Plantation, Lumberjack, Stockyards) plus the Junction and Chainsaw connectors give beginners and family groups a full day's riding without hitting the granite rock gardens.
Kurrajong is the introduction-to-MTB end of the park. The Park Office (5 Branch Road, Little River) is the formal Parks Victoria visitor centre — toilets, drinking water from the Visitor Centre fountain, picnic areas with gas/wood-fired BBQs (Kurrajong Picnic Area), and ample sealed parking. The "Pump Like Tom" pump track sits a few hundred metres into the bush near the Park Office, giving young riders a low-stakes warm-up before they roll on to Plantation Track. There's also access onto the 12 km Great Circle Drive scenic road for casual gravel cruising.
The wider park sits on Wadawurrung Country, with iconic Devonian granite tors above the eucalypt forest. Park entry is free; opening hours are 7:00am–8:00pm during daylight saving and 7:00am–5:00pm outside it.
Location & Access
- Address: Park Office, 5 Branch Road, Little River VIC 3212 (southern entrance to You Yangs Regional Park)
- Region (proposed): "Geelong / Bellarine" or simply "Geelong" — current "Geelong / Greater Geelong" is awkwardly redundant. Visit Victoria places You Yangs in Geelong & the Bellarine.
- Drive times: ~55 km (~50 min) from Melbourne CBD via Princes Fwy / Little River exit; ~22 km (~25 min) from Geelong; ~15 min from Lara
- Public transport: Lara station (V/Line Geelong line) is ~12 km away; Little River station ~10 km. No scheduled bus to the Park Office. Effectively car-only.
- Parking: Sealed Park Office and Kurrajong Picnic Area carparks. Free. Capacity is good but fills on autumn weekends.
- Coords (DB): -37.96303, 144.40998 — sits near the Park Office / Kurrajong Picnic Area area in the southern park, distinct from the Drysdale/Stockyards trailhead 5 km north. Verified against Google Maps and the Parks Victoria Park Office page.
Best Season & Conditions
- Peak riding season: Autumn–early spring (May–Sep). Cooler temps under the eucalypt canopy; firmer trail surface.
- Wet-weather impact: Smooth dirt and gravel trails get muddy after medium rainfall (per Bancoora trail notes). Parks Victoria asks riders to avoid trails when wet to prevent surface damage.
- Fire-danger / TFB impact: Granite hill in dry country — park can close on Code Red / Catastrophic fire-danger days under Parks Victoria policy.
- Snow / alpine season: N/A.
- School-holiday surge: Kurrajong is the family end; expect crowds on weekend mornings during school holidays. Pump Like Tom gets busy.
Managing Body & Trail Builders
- Land manager: Parks Victoria (Park Office staffed at 5 Branch Road)
- Trail builder / maintainer: You Yangs MTB Inc. (volunteer, not-for-profit) in partnership with Geelong Mountain Bike Club
- Volunteer / dig days: Listed via volunteersignup.org and the YYMBI Facebook page; contact youyangsmtbinc@yahoo.com.au
- Donations / membership: Membership / donations via youyangsmtbinc.com.au
History & Background
- Geological / cultural: Devonian granite tors (~365 Ma) on Wadawurrung Country, rising above the Werribee Plain. Name derives from "Wurdi Youang" / "Ude Youang" — "big mountain in the middle of a plain". Matthew Flinders climbed and named "Station Peak" (later Flinders Peak) in 1802.
- Plantation history: The Kurrajong area is a planted eucalypt plantation (not pine — confirmed across multiple sources), originally established for forestry then converted to recreational use. Trails wind between the planted rows, giving a uniformly shaded, fast-flowing character distinct from the natural granite landscape at Stockyards.
- Cultural site: The wider park contains the Bunjil Geoglyph (Andrew Rogers, 2006).
- Club: You Yangs MTB Inc. has built and maintained the Kurrajong network since the mid-2000s, alongside the Stockyards.
Recent News & Updates (last 12 months)