Beginner MTB on the Sunshine Coast
Beginner MTB on the Sunshine Coast: Ferny Forest, Ewen Maddock Dam and the Dularcha rail tunnel, Sugar Bag Road skills park, Mapleton Forest, Wooroi near Noosa and Parklands, plus pump tracks, BMX and the clubs running rookie rides. Save the ride cards and plan your Sunny Coast weekend on Ride the State.
The Sunshine Coast is one of the easiest places in Australia to fall in love with mountain biking. Within about an hour of each other you'll find a purpose-built beginner loop through fern gullies, a heritage rail tunnel, hinterland forest with views to the Conondale Range, Noosa rainforest singletrack and a skills park with a pump track and café at the trailhead. Start on the flat stuff around Ewen Maddock Dam, and the rest of the coast opens up as your skills grow.
This guide maps beginner-friendly riding Sunshine Coast locals actually use, from Landsborough and Caloundra up to Nambour, Mapleton and Noosa. It links the live Ride the State cards and points you at the clubs that run rookie rides and look after the trails. Wet-weather closures, park alerts and club ride times all change, so check the ride card and the Queensland Parks or club notices before you go.
Browse rides: Glenview – Ferny Forest · Ewen Maddock Dam MTB Trails · Landsborough & Mooloolah · Dularcha National Park Rail Trail · Sugar Bag Road MTB Park · Mapleton Forest · Wooroi – Tewantin Trails · Parklands · Sunshine Coast Coastal Pathway · Skippy Park · Buderim Pump Track · Suncoast Hinterland BMX Track · Sunshine Coast BMX Track
Find clubs: Clubs · QLD trails: Mountain bike trails Queensland · Pump tracks: Pump tracks Queensland · What's on: Events · Free account: Create one
Glenview – Ferny Forest - the Sunshine Coast's best first singletrack
Glenview – Ferny Forest sits on the eastern side of Ewen Maddock Dam near Landsborough, and it's one of the region's best introductions to mountain biking. The purpose-built Ferny Forest MTB Loop is about 12–13 km, tagged Family Friendly, Beginner Friendly, Flow and Scenic.
The loop was designed primarily for beginners and families: mostly flat terrain, gentle undulations and very few intimidating technical features. Instead of big climbs, it's all twisty, flowing singletrack through blackbutt forest, fern gullies and melaleuca wetlands, with views across the dam to the Glass House Mountains. It's the perfect place to practise cornering, pumping and carrying momentum.
Who you'll often find here
- First-timers, kids and families on their first proper trail ride
- Bushrangers MTB Club riders — volunteers helped build the original trail in 2015 and still help maintain it, and Ferny Forest is on the club's Community Ride rotation
Good to know: access is from the Steve Irwin Way rest area, with parking close to the trail. Follow the marked riding direction around the circuit. The dedicated loop is for mountain bikes, and walkers and runners are directed to the multi-use tracks around the dam.
Ewen Maddock Dam, Landsborough & Dularcha - flat loops and a heritage tunnel
Three linked cards around Landsborough make this the easiest MTB hub on the coast:
- Ewen Maddock Dam MTB Trails is rated Green on the card: an easy, mostly flat XC circuit around the Seqwater recreation precinct and into Beerburrum/Beerwah State Forest, with multi-use links from Maddock Park.
- Landsborough & Mooloolah links the dam trails with Dularcha National Park on mostly wide, relatively flat forest trails, with optional hills and side trails if you want more climbing.
- Dularcha National Park Rail Trail follows the old North Coast railway on the 3 km one-way Tunnel Track between Landsborough and Mooloolah, through the heritage-listed Dularcha Railway Tunnel. Out and back is about 6 km of easy riding.
Who you'll often find here
- Families and recreational riders building longer, easy days
- Bushrangers Community Rides, which rotate through Ewen Maddock Dam
Good to know: ride in daylight hours, follow one-way signage, and check Queensland Parks and Seqwater alerts after wet weather. Bring a light for the tunnel — it curves enough that the middle gets properly dark — slow right down as you enter, and keep the noise down because bats seasonally roost inside. These are shared trails, so give way to walkers and horse riders. Fancy a coffee stop? Ride the dam trails into Landsborough, continue through Dularcha to Mooloolah, then loop back on the Mooloolah Connection Road bikeway. Leave Roses Circuit and the steeper Myla, Gully and Ridge tracks for a later visit.
Sugar Bag Road MTB Park - choose-your-own-adventure skills park
Sugar Bag Road MTB Park in Caloundra West is compact but packed with features, from green beginner trails through to double-black timber features. Difficulty on the card is Green, Blue, Black and Double Black, tagged Family friendly, Beginner friendly and Skills area.
What makes Sugar Bag great for learning is its design: many trails have an easier main line alongside optional technical features, so mixed-ability groups can ride together. Party Mix (about 3 km) is green-rated overall, with around 20 optional blue and black features you can simply roll past. There's a mapped 6.4 km Beginners Loop, though official guidance suggests having at least a little MTB experience first. The trailhead also has the Sunshine Coast's first pump track, suitable for everything from balance bikes up.
Who you'll often find here
- Kids on the pump track and families lapping Party Mix
- Riders from Caloundra Off Road Cycling Association (CORCA), which develops and maintains the park with Sunshine Coast Council, plus Bushrangers Community Rides
Good to know: facilities are excellent, with parking, toilets, shelters, BBQs, a fenced playground, bike storage and an onsite café. Start on the pump track and the easy lines of Party Mix, and only add optional features once you've seen them ridden.
Mapleton Forest - hinterland XC with lookout views
Mapleton Forest, in Mapleton National Park, mixes dedicated MTB and shared-use trails through blackbutt forest, rainforest and palm groves. Difficulty on the card is Green and Blue, tagged Family Friendly and Beginner Friendly.
The riding is mostly intermediate, with natural surfaces, moderate climbs and creek crossings, so it's a great second-stage venue once Ferny Forest feels easy. Start at the Mapleton Day-use Area and pick from the 6.7 km Piccabeen Circuit, the 7.8 km Turpentine Trail, or work up to the 19 km Oaky Creek Lookout MTB Trail with views across the Conondale Range and Mary Valley. The 8.5 km Kureelpa Falls Circuit drops about 200 m before climbing back out.
Who you'll often find here
- Riders stepping up from the Landsborough trails
- Bushrangers Community Rides, which also visit Mapleton
Good to know: the day-use area has parking, toilets and picnic facilities. Trails are shared with walkers and horse riders, and the Oaky Creek route crosses the separate Gheerulla trail-bike track, so take care at crossings. Avoid riding in strong winds because of falling branches, and check Queensland Parks alerts first.
Wooroi – Tewantin Trails - Noosa rainforest singletrack
Wooroi – Tewantin Trails sit in Tewantin National Park, about 15 minutes from Noosa Heads. Difficulty on the card is Green, Blue and Black, with 11 official MTB routes from the Wooroi Day Use Area.
Newer riders should begin with Hovea, an easy 1.3 km circuit mostly on management tracks. From there, the intermediate routes range from about 3 km to 12 km, so you can explore progressively — Milk Maid, Indy and Glider are good next goals. Expect flowing subtropical singletrack, roots, short punchy climbs and berms through eucalypt forest and rainforest gullies.
Who you'll often find here
- Visitors mixing a Noosa beach holiday with a trail day
- Noosa Trailblazers MTB Club, who help QPWS look after Wooroi and run social rides, women's rides (Trailblazers Sisterhood), beginner-friendly sessions and the Wooroi Wildlings youth program
Good to know: the trailhead off Noosa–Cooroy Road has parking, picnic tables and tap water, but no toilets. Several trails are one-way, so check the official map, and leave Keelback, Turn 10 and Snake (the difficult routes) for later. Wooroi can close during or after heavy rain to protect the trails.
Parklands - the old-school step up near Nambour
Parklands Conservation Park, just north-east of Nambour, has 13 dedicated MTB trails plus about 15 km of shared trails. Difficulty on the card is Green, Blue and Black — 2 easy, 8 intermediate and 3 difficult trails.
This is natural, old-school mountain biking: roots, rocks, tight turns, switchbacks and steep pinches rather than smooth machine-built flow. Lush is the introduction for newer riders, and there's a skills area near the Radar Hill Road trailhead. Treat Parklands as a goal for once you're confident at Ferny Forest, Sugar Bag and Mapleton, not as your first day.
Who you'll often find here
- Confident intermediate riders on rocky, rooty laps
- Bushrangers volunteers, who run trail-care days at Parklands
Good to know: the network can be surprisingly tricky to navigate on a first visit, so download the Queensland Parks map or Trailforks before you go. Trails get slippery after heavy rain and may be temporarily closed, so check park alerts first.
Coastal Pathway & Skippy Park - sealed, traffic-free warm-ups
- Sunshine Coast Coastal Pathway runs about 73 km from Bells Creek to Coolum in nine named connections beside beaches, dunes and foreshore parks. Pick one connection for an easy spin on any bike — keep left and give way to pedestrians.
- Skippy Park in Landsborough has a smooth, mostly flat sealed cycling circuit of about 1.1–1.3 km around its oval and playground. It's ideal for kids learning to ride and for adults getting comfortable on a new bike, with toilets, BBQs, water and parking on site.
Good to know: both are great days for nervous riders or young kids before the first dirt day, and Skippy Park is only minutes from the Ewen Maddock Dam trails.
Pump tracks & BMX - skills that carry onto the trails
- Buderim Pump Track at Forestwood Drive Park was designed with beginner and intermediate local riders in mind, and sits beside a playground and basketball half-court. It's unsupervised.
- Suncoast Hinterland BMX Track is home to Suncoast Hinterland BMX Club, which runs Mini Wheelers on balance bikes, a Sprocket program for under-8s, coaching and gate practice, and points new riders to the AusCycling four-week free trial.
- Sunshine Coast BMX Track in Yandina is home to Sunshine Coast BMX Club, which offers beginner coaching through to advanced sessions.
Good to know: both BMX tracks are closed club facilities — confirm coaching, practice and race times with the club before you turn up. Membership and race licences are through AusCycling.
Save for later: Kenilworth and the Noosa Biosphere Trails
Once the greens and blues feel easy, two hinterland adventures are worth saving. Kenilworth is backcountry fire-road riding from Charlie Moreland Camping Area, with a long, steady climb to the Mount Allan fire tower — rated Blue/Black, Intermediate on the card. The Noosa Biosphere Trails are shared-use gravel and natural trails across the Noosa Hinterland, great for longer MTB or gravel days once you're fitter. Neither is a first-day ride.
How to pick your first Sunshine Coast MTB day
- Start sealed if you're brand new. A section of the Coastal Pathway or laps of Skippy Park with the kids.
- First dirt day at Ferny Forest. Twisty, flowing and almost flat — ride it in the marked direction.
- Add the Ewen Maddock and Dularcha loops. Easy kilometres, a heritage tunnel (bring a light) and a coffee in Mooloolah.
- Skills day at Sugar Bag. Pump track first, then Party Mix, and roll past the optional features until you're ready.
- Head to the hinterland. Mapleton's Piccabeen Circuit or Turpentine Trail once you're happy with some climbing.
- Noosa trip? Ride Wooroi. Warm up on Hovea, then explore the intermediate routes. Remember there are no toilets at the trailhead.
- Parklands when you're confident. Start on Lush and download the map before you go.
- Respect the weather. Wooroi, Parklands and the national park trails can close after heavy rain, so check alerts and ride elsewhere when it's wet.
- Ride with a club. Bushrangers MTB Club runs Rookie Rides with regular stops and easier terrain, plus Community Rides at Ewen Maddock, Ferny Forest, Mapleton and Sugar Bag. Noosa Trailblazers runs beginner-friendly and women's sessions at Wooroi. Into road too? Sunshine Coast Cycling Club welcomes riders new to racing, and AusCycling QLD connects the state calendar.
- Save venues on Ride the State. Create a free account, save the cards above, and use the Trip Planner to stack Ferny Forest and Dularcha into one day, or build a Sunshine Coast weekend with Sugar Bag and Wooroi.
Keep exploring
Clubs and rides linked in this guide are on Ride the State — tap the chips below, or start at rides, clubs and events. Heading south? Read Beginner MTB near Brisbane. Not sure MTB is your thing yet? Read Which cycling discipline is right for you?
Got a favourite Sunshine Coast beginner trail we should feature next? Submit a ride or tip via the hub — we only publish what we can verify.
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