Looking for the best kid-friendly mountain bike tracks that the whole family can enjoy? Newcastle and its surrounding areas are jam-packed with hours and hours worth of fun-filled trails that children from around the age of five can enjoy.
Once your children are confident on a mountain bike, they can take off with parents into the bush and get dirty and muddy, whilst enjoying the beauty of the natural environment and wildlife that Newcastle is renowned for. (You can even put younger kids in a baby seat and do some gentle tracks)
Here are the best family-friendly mountain biking trails to enjoy in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Hunter.
Best Family-Friendly Mountain Bike Trails at a Glance
- Glenrock State Conservation Area: 5 minutes from Newcastle, Glenrock offers beginners (green) circuits through to advanced trails.
- Awaba Mountain Bike Park: 30 minutes from Newcastle, Awaba Mountain Bike Park features inclusive and adaptive trails and is great for family day trips.
- Jesmond: Currently closed due to bypass construction (which is due to be completed at the end of 2026).
- Holmesville Mountain Bike Trails: 30-40 minutes from Newcastle, these trails are great for if your family is looking for variety, with some technical features for advanced riders.
- Dungog Common: 1 hour from Newcastle, Dungog Common features two pump tracks, beginner to advanced flow trails and a shuttle service.
Tips before you hit the dirt
- Give your bike a once-over before you head out, and pack a portable tyre pump in case of a puncture. Helmets are a must, and if you’ve got elbow and knee pads, throw those in too, along with a first aid kit for the inevitable scratch or scrape. Don’t forget the sunscreen.
- Pack water bottles or a camel pack for each rider, plus a stash of snacks to keep energy up along the way, cut-up fruit, muffins or a few chewy lollies work well. It’s also worth leaving a cold pack in the car with something more substantial for afterwards, since everyone tends to be starving once the ride’s done.
- If your child isn’t quite ready for bush trails yet, our guide to pump tracks in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Hunter is a gentler way to build confidence and bike skills first.
Best Mountain Bike Trails in Newcastle
Glenrock State Conservation Area
Probably the most famous mountain biking track in Newcastle, Glenrock has trails for all levels of bike riders. With beautiful bush trails that have glimpses of the ocean, there are over 40km of tracks but for kids, look out for the green level circle.
These are signposted and are a great introduction to the lush woodlands, waterfalls and open forests of the Glenrock area, which is a stone’s throw from Newcastle’s city centre. It can get busy here so pick times that are off-peak if you’re trying mountain bike riding out for the first time. For a detailed description of the tracks, read Tracks Less Travelled’s blog about Glenrock MTB Park.
Difficulty rating: Easy to Advanced (green circuit for kids, but 40km+ of trails ranging up to more technical terrain)
Parking: Available at various park access points, including Gun Club Road and Highfields Parade.
Toilets: No
Food and drinks: No water on site so bring your own but plenty of cafes/convenience shops within a five minute drive.
Best Mountain Bike Trails in Lake Macquarie
Awaba Mountain Bike Park
If you fancy a little day trip, head out to the Awaba Mountain Bike Park, around a 30 minute drive from Newcastle, set within the beautiful Olney State Forest. There are Adaptive and Development Trails which are wider than normal tracks and have been built with inclusion and rider progression in mind. Pack a family picnic and even if the whole family isn’t riding the trails, enjoying a day out amongst the trees at this picturesque spot is worth the effort.
Difficulty rating: Easy to Advanced
Parking: Available off Jenkins Road at the main entrance to the park.
Toilets: Yes
Food and drinks: No but the small townships of Freeman’s Waterhole and Cooranbong are close by with food and drinks available.
Holmesville
A collection of cross-country trails perfectly suited to families, there is something for everyone at this great mountain biking destination.
With almost 20 kms of interesting tracks, you can ride through a paper bark forest, over wooden bridges and through muddy puddles, and there’s even some technical features for the more advanced members of your family, like wooden jumps and a wall ride. This is a mountain biking hidden gem that turns into a bustling busy hot spot on weekends!
Difficulty rating: Easy to Advanced (cross-country trails suited to families, but with technical features like wooden jumps and a wall ride)
Parking: Yes at Holmesville Oval on Appletree Road.
Toilets: Yes
Food and drinks: No water on site but a coffee van usually parks each weekend morning to sell drinks, coffee and snacks until 11am.
Best Mountain Bike Trails in the Hunter
Dungog Common Recreation Reserve
Just 2km from the centre of Dungog, Dungog Common Recreation Reserve is a 650-acre community recreation reserve. There are over 22kms of tracks, including green tracks especially for young or inexperienced riders. These tracks are wide with smooth surfaces and have simple challenges like logs and rocks.
This place is popular with the mountain biking community, so despite being about an hour’s drive from Newcastle, don’t be surprised by the packed carpark! For a detailed description of the tracks, head to the Dungog Common website. Check trail status before you go on the Ride Dungog website.
The main draw card to the Dungog trails are the ‘flow trails’. These are machine built track with wide banked corners and use gravity to hold speed, similar to a rollercoaster. There’s also two great pump tracks.
Granted Ride have a shuttle service at Dungog Common. They pick up riders and their bikes at the bottom of the trails and giving them a ride in their bus to the top of the trails, where they then ride down and repeat. All the fun and thrills without the long pedal up the hill, which is great for beginners, families and kids to get the most out of their visit to the Dungog trails. They operate every weekend. Visit the Granted Ride website for booking and more information.
Difficulty rating: Easy to Advanced (green tracks for younger or inexperienced riders, plus machine-built flow trails)
Parking: Yes at the park entrance off Common Road
Toilets: Yes. There is a toilet and shower block
Food and drinks: No but the Dowling Street shops of Dungog is a 2km trip away with plenty of cafes and pubs to refuel.
Other Mountain Bike Trails to Try
Jesmond (Currently closed due to bypass construction)
Right smack bang in the suburbs of Newcastle, the Jesmond mountain biking tracks are a great choice if you are keen for a ride close by, if you have other little ones that can enjoy the park and playground while the older children take a run through the nearby bush trails or if your kids want an easy-going introduction to mountain bike bush riding. There are some really pretty rocky spots that you ride through and even a bordering paddock with horses which is a treat for the kids!
Difficulty rating: Moderate. The trails have steep hills, so a warning for little legs.
Parking: Available at Jesmond Park car park.
Toilets: Yes
Food and drinks: There are bubblers within Jesmond Park for thirsty riders and Jesmond Shopping centre is a 5 minute ride away with many food options.
Ourimbah Mountain Bike Park
Down on the Central Coast, Ourimbah State Forest is a longstanding favourite with mountain bike riders featuring over 22km of trails for all levels, maintained by the Central Coast MTB Club. There’s a mix of trails right from beginner to expert, including a national-level downhill track! A shuttle is available 7 days a week.
It’s a bit over an hour’s drive from Newcastle, so a good option to pair with a day trip further south.
Difficulty rating: Easy to Advanced
Parking: Available off Red Hill Road.
Toilets: No details confirmed, worth checking on arrival.
Food and drinks: No shop onsite, but Ourimbah village has cafes a short drive away.
The Steps, Barrington Tops
For families keen to turn mountain biking into a proper weekend away, The Steps at Barrington Tops is worth the drive. Around two hours from Newcastle on the Barrington River, the Steps Loop is 3.5km of single track with flowing downhills, technical climbs and log bridges, suited to mixed abilities. Littlies can potter on the flat Kids Loop instead, and there’s a pump track for building confidence.
It’s a great spot to camp for the weekend, with the river right there to cool off in after a ride. Day use of the loop and pump track costs a small fee and needs booking ahead by phone. Older or more experienced riders can also try Barrington Bike Park next door, a separate booking with shuttle-assisted black, blue and green trails. Find more information on
Parking: Available at The Steps Barrington Campground.
Toilets: Yes
Food and drinks: No shop onsite, pack supplies. Gloucester and Dungog have cafes 30-40 minutes away.
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