Caboolture To Wamuran Rail Trail

[singlespeedscott]

Glad you enjoyed it Ronk. There is some nice scenery along the trail. Imagine what the area was like before they filled it with pine forest.

[Paddles]

Nice work and a lovely loop Ron. You guys were keen, it was a bit wet up here yesterday morning. The rail trail around behind the quarry and through the old Blackrock logging area is simply beautiful isn't it, you could ride through trails like that all day. I'll have to get Foo organised for a ride up to the Woodford bakery when it dries out a bit

[RonK]

The rail trail around behind the quarry and through the old Blackrock logging area is simply beautiful isn't it, you could ride through trails like that all day.

It certainly is.

[Paddles]

Magic, great shot!

[Paddles]

The neighbour and I rode up to Wamuran yesterday and then looped around in singlespeedscott's back yard through the pineapples and pine trees and whilst there were no cars in the car park when we started, there were a few people out riding and running on the trail and a few cars parked up when we got back so it's great to see a few more people using this trail now.

[singlespeedscott]

I’ve seen a bit of pedestrian and cycling traffic on there of late.

It will be great once the seal the section between Tullawong High and Country dr

[RonK]

After our exploratory ride I'm leading a group ride up there on June 9. There'll be around 20 riders.

[Paddles]

Good stuff Ron, you guys will have a great ride. Are you going to return from Woodford using the Beerburrum-Woodford Road and then head south along Old Gympie Road to Caboolture?

Hey Scott, that dirt section of Twin View Road is smoother than most of the sealed roads in the shire

[RonK]

Yes, although I'm not sure about the condition of Old Gympie Road as it was raining so much last visit we bailed to Beerburrum. Time before I was there it was badly chopped up where it joined with Beerburrum - Woodford Road.
Also considered taking Raaen and Twin View roads but maybe we'll do that another time.

[Paddles]

The section of Old Gympie Road south of Twin View Road as far as Smiths Road is very good smooth gravel, it's sealed from there back into Caboolture. North of Twin View Road gets a few motorbikes and 4wds so can get chopped up after rain. Twin View Road, where it drops off the hill from Raaen Road is a bit rough down the hill but then becomes really good smooth gravel that eventually turns into bitumen.

[RonK]

So on Sunday I took a group of 20 MTB riders on a 63km loop from Caboolture along the rail trail to Wamuran, then through the backroads to Bracalba and on to Woodfood along the route described by Paddles and Scott.

Despite some rain on the Saturday, the trail was in good condition. The surface seems to drain very well so there were few wet patches.

And I can report continuing improvements on the trail - it appears the remnant section of the old railway line through the overpass at Wam has been removed and the section into the township upgraded with a concrete path. It's still under construction so we didn't get to through ride it this time.

The section through the rainforest at the Glasshouse Conservation Park at Bracalba was simply magical in the misty early morning light. Gotta be one of the best keep secrets in the Glasshouse district.

We had breakfast on the back deck at Mugbeans Café (Cutters Rest) in Woodford and the food and service was good. We'll probably do this ride and come back here again later in the year.

From Woodford we took the Beerburrum Road back over the range, and a few of the braver riders tackled the Hennessy Hill downhill course (Beeries). Then we turned down Old Gympie Road back to Caboolture. The section between Beerburrum Road and Twin View Road was quite wet and muddy, and as expected has been cut up badly by four-wheel drives, but of course that is what mountain bikes are good for. After Twin View Road it was a nice and cruisey ride for the last few kilometres into Caboolture.

We'll be back.

[singlespeedscott]

Great sounding ride Ronk.

Can I suggest next time, instead of going down Old Gympie, try using Six Mile road.

https://www.strava.com/segments/17702351

Although it has patches of sand and a long section of ballast on it, its a much nicer ride through the pine forest.

At the end of Six Mile road you can take a left and follow the fire break that parallels Twin View Road. This track will bring you out about 500 metres short of Old Gympie Road.

https://www.strava.com/segments/20843000

Straight across from where you come out there is a short section of moto single track that is quite ride able on the mtb. Following this will take you through to Old Gympie Road.

https://www.strava.com/segments/20843123

If you follow Old Gympie through to Smiths road you will see on your left that they have built a new concrete bike path. This will get you all the way back to the show grounds without having to ride on the road.

[RonK]

I'll make a note for next time, thanks Scott. I've been a bit cautious since there is such a maze of roads I've been wary of getting lost.

We did see the cycleway along Smiths Road, some of it still under construction, and some of the group used it.

A small group of faster riders got a nice little paceline going and powered along the road. It was a bit of fun to finish the ride.

[Paddles]

Fantastic loop there Ron. I'm going to give that 6 Mile Road a go Scott, I've been wondering what the best connection is between the Beerburrum-Woodford Road and Twin View Road

[singlespeedscott]

Still recovering from the flu so last weekend I decided to do a ride on the fixed gear that follows the bike paths from Elimbah to Caboolture than follow the rail trail/side roads and tracks to Woodford and then back. It turned into a great ride. I particularly enjoyed riding up the rail trail to Bracalba at first light. Once all these bike paths and the rail trail are completed it will be a great piece of infrastructure.

Interestingly I’ve read in the local council newsletter that the go ahead has been given to build a path that joins Wamuran to Woodford. Hopefully this will follow the old rail trail. This is based on a talks of Boundry realignments. So fingers crossed. It certainly will be great to be able to reach Woodford on the road bike without having to venture on to the highway.

[Paddles]

That'll be great if they link it up to Woodford and we don't have to go on the highway any more. Just a deco base would be fine I reckon to keep it cheap. My cousin from Brisbane brought a bunch of his Brisbane CX type mates up on the weekend to ride the trail to Woodford, they then headed north to Landsborough where most of them jumped back on the train to head home, but the cousin and a mate stayed the night in Mooloolah and then bushwacked their way back to Elimbah jumping fences and riding through creeks, the lunatics.

[singlespeedscott]

That'll be great if they link it up to Woodford and we don't have to go on the highway any more. Just a deco base would be fine I reckon to keep it cheap. My cousin from Brisbane brought a bunch of his Brisbane CX type mates up on the weekend to ride the trail to Woodford, they then headed north to Landsborough where most of them jumped back on the train to head home, but the cousin and a mate stayed the night in Mooloolah and then bushwacked their way back to Elimbah jumping fences and riding through creeks, the lunatics.

Be interesting to see their route Paddles.

[Paddles]

Sorry about the slow reply Scott, I don't know if Nicko made it private or not

https://www.strava.com/activities/2472652121