Trail Care

Trail Care is planned in advance and in consultation with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) Rangers. Work is carried out inline with IMBA standards with a focus on drainage and erosion control. Without trail care trails don’t last and there is always the likelihood of complete or partial closure of the eroded tracks.

Over the years a good number of Bushranger members and volunteers have invested many manhours and made a very positive results in sustainable track work. QPWS is tightly funded and mountain bike trails could not exist without this extensive volunteer work. Even on a day-to-day basis members and volunteers remove fallen trees from trails and report larger trees to the Rangers for chainsaw removal.

Trail care is extremely enjoyable for all trail user groups as they know that they have made a contribution to maintain and build sustainable trails and to learn about land management and conservation.

If you can provide a few mornings a year that is brilliant. No previous experience is necessary and you will have a great time while learning trail care techniques. We would like to thank all those who have volunteered and assisted in these projects. If you haven’t volunteered yet, think about it next time around!

If you would like to contribute financially towards local trail maintenance then you can do so via Paypal. For tax-deductible donations go to our donation page with the Australian Sports Foundation ($25 minimum).

Donations go towards fuel and the maintenance of equipment such as brush cutters, compactors and power carriers. Also funds will be used to purchase new/replacement tools like rakehoes, maddocks, shovels and wheelbarrows.

You can also help out on the trails in your own time by doing small but vital jobs like clearing the drains. Getting that water off the trails stops it turning into a mudhole which then gets made worse when bikes go through. Just scrape away the sticks, leaves and silt that builds up on the side of any drain on the trail – get the water moving off to the side and not sitting in a puddle.

Always bring water, sturdy shoes, gloves, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent and a great attitude.

The SCTA was an idea where all the clubs and other stakeholders would join an alliance to help look after all the trails on the coast. The Bushrangers and land owners were keen but other clubs did not want to participate so the idea has faded. For now we will continue to manage our own trail care events but truly hope that the SCTA will come to fruition one day soon.

We use trail counters throughout the trail networks to gather usage data. This data helps us better understand trail usage frequency and patterns, and can also be used when applying for grants and other funding.

We use TRAFx Trail Counters as pictured to the right. If you happen to find one of these please report it to us (contact details at bottom of this page).

The following Trail Usage report is updated monthly when the trail counts are collected.

Counters for Trail 2 and 3 were moved on December 23rd 2017
Counter for Trail 1 was moved March 25th 2018

Our trail development strategy document shows the past three years of trail development and the plans for the next three years. The document is drafted in collaboration with land managers. It is hoped that this document will be reviewed annually and with greater consultation with the wider community.

Please find the current version of the document below:

• Queensland Department of National Parks, Sport and Racing (NPSR)
• International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA)

If you’re keen to learn everything there is about building singletrack then the IMBA Trail Solutions book is an excellent resource.

You can purchase them from QORF or from MTBA.

• wikiHow – Make a Mountain Bike Course
• Flow Mountain Bike – The Five Trail Building Must Haves
• The guys at the Global Mountain Bike Network YouTube channel have put together an excellent video giving an overview of trail building and maintenance: