TRAIL MANAGEMENT

Recently burned and cut (Smedleys)

Recently cut (UTR)

Late wet season (UTR)

Early wet season (Lagoon)

Managing tropical MTB trails

We developed this site to promote mountain biking at Pallarenda and to advocate for the management of our incredible trail network.

Each year following the wet season (around Nov-Mar) there is a significant amount of effort required to open the Pallarenda trails. Head-high grass often covers the trails after the growing season, which is cut using brush cutters either before or after a full-scale burn of the two parks conducted by QPWS.

Here is a history of trail management for UTR, showing a gradually delayed opening date each year:

Trails opened April 17 2020. Trail clearing conducted by Ausfield Services (a vegetation management contractor)
Trails opened late June 2021. Trail management and significant building works.
Trails opened May 2 2024. 160 hours, 60 litres of fuel and 500 metres of cord with around 15 volunteers/staff led by Outer Limits.
Trails opened July 24 2025. One full day of clearing with around 15 volunteers/staff led by Outer Limits.

However, sometimes there is a considerable delay to getting the trails open. The wet season has finished, the weather is good, and our community is keen to make the most of the cooler months. There is nothing quite like waiting until the summer is over only to have significant delays in being to access the Pallarenda trails.

Our aim with this site is to advocate for the opening all Pallarenda trails by mid April.

A range of activities to achieve this could be conducted to meet this aim:

Cutting of Pallarenda trails should be contracted to an appropriate vegetation management company to become a regular and well-resourced activity with significant benefits to tourism and our local community.
A trail management plan is developed to openly communicate the management of the Pallarenda trails, including management schedules.
While burning and cutting are necessary, burning never replaces the need to cut (it just results in head-high burnt vegetation rather than ready-to-ride trails).
Trails should be cut regularly, ideally 2-3 times per year to reduce the need for very large once-per-year efforts (often 40-160 hours of work).
Funding from high profile national parks, which generate significant income to those parks (such as Kgari, Green Island and Bribie Island), should be shared to the Queensland regions to support regional trail management.

How can you advocate for Pallarenda Trails?

There are many ways to advocate for the Pallarenda trails!

Help us develop a Pallarenda Trails community group so that we can access the Queensland Gambling Benefit Community Fund and other potential funding sources to help manage our trails.

The Pallarenda trails occur within QPWS managed lands. The QPWS do an outstanding job of managing their assets, but with many assets to cover the Pallarenda trails are often not the top priority (e.g. Alligator Creek is typically cut and trails are opened well before Pallarenda each year).

Email QPWS Estate management to highlight your interest in the Pallarenda Trails (QPWS.Estate@des.qld.gov.au)
Email the Department of Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (engagement@detsi.gov.au) or contact their tourism team (des.socialmedia@detsi.qld.gov.au)
Submit a query via the QPWS website.
Send QPWS a compliment about the trails.

The best way to help is to influence resource allocation towards our trails, with the aim of achieving a regular funding stream that would enable the consistent contracting of regular vegetation management and brush cutting to a reliable contractor. Please email these people to make a request:

Email Townsville's Mayor: Nick Dametto (mayor.oftownsville@townsville.qld.gov.au)
Email our local member of government: Ann-Maree Greaney (Ann-Maree.Greaney@townsville.qld.gov.au)
Email our state member of government: Adam Baillee (townsville@parliament.qld.gov.au)
Email our state Minister for the Environment and Tourism and Minister for Science and Innovation: Andrew Powell (environment@ministerial.qld.gov.au)
Email our federal member of government Phillip Thompson (Phillip.Thompson.MP@aph.gov.au)

Offer to volunteer (the timing of volunteer work is generally found by watching the Rockwheelers or Outer Limits facebook pages).

Join Rockwheelers, our local mountain bike club, which has done so much work to advance mountain biking in Queensland's dry tropics region.

Building a case for year-round trails

What can you say to our government representatives to support a case for ongoing investment in Townsville's mountain bike trails?

Here are a few points:

Economic Benefits

Townsville is among the fastest growing regional centres in Australia, and requires trail management activities funding and staff that reflects the significant population growth in Queenslands tropical north.
Significant investments in mountain bike trail networks in Cairns ($15.5M over 2025-28), Atherton ($1.1M in 2026) and Mackay (>$6.25M since 2023) regions now attract large numbers of mountain bike tourists to North Queensland. Townsville has an amazing trail network, but requires ongoing funding and activities for our two major mountain bike centres, Douglas Mountain Bike Park and the Pallarenda Trails.
- Read the Tropical North Queensland Regional Mountain Bike Strategy here.
- According to the strategy, mountain bike riding is estimated to currently contribute $35.4 million to the Cairns economy.
- Australia has nearly half a million mountain bike riders, with a large number of riders located in regional areas.
- Townsville risks missing out on the significant tourism benefits of mountain biking, whereby tourists could fly into Cairns and out of Townsville rather than the proposed Cairns - Port Douglas - Atherton - Cardwell hub and spoke model.
Indicate how Pallarenda is a prime example of many of the aims of the Master Plan for Queensland’s Parks and Forests (2015-2025), including nurturing world class destinations and experiences for visitors to national parks. Mountain biking is a particularly good way to cover large distances in the tropics, generating breeze and avoiding extended periods interacting with national parks.

Psychological Benefits

Read about the significant advantages of supporting mountain biking in Queensland's national parks developed by Bicycle Queensland here.
The psychological benefits of accessing nature are clear, and investments that enable year-round access to Townsville's parks can help support a healthy community.

Outstanding Success Stories