Cobbler Creek MTB Trails

May 7, 2014 · by Cody · in Trails and Parks

Mountain Biking in Cobbler Creek Recreation Park was officially given the green light earlier this year. A legal location for mountain biking in the Northern Eastern suburbs of Adelaide, “Cobblers” is a big win for mountain bikers in the area.

While many walking and “rogue” MTB trails existed in the park prior to the official opening, 7km of new singletrack has been built by legendary trail crew TrailScapes. Existing trails have been tweaked and signposted for mountain bikers and walkers alike.

Valley circuit rock garden at Cobbler Creek Recreation Park

Quick Trail Brief

Cobbler Creek features beginner green trails and more technically challenging blue trails, so it’s a place that anyone can go to ride. For advanced mountain bikers looking for a very technical challenge, you’ll have to be more creative. While the trails may not challenge you in every possible way, it is a great spot to have some fun on the bike, with numerous flow trails and the odd jump or drop to style it up on.

Theoretically, the park only features 2 downhill specific trails but if you are creative there is easily enough options for a Saturday morning worth of DH laps without riding the same two entire trails over and over – as the trails tend to weave in and out of each other, you can mix it up quite a bit.

The MTB trails at Cobbler Creek have a similar style to those at Craigburn Farm, no doubt due to TrailScapes’ involvement in both sites. Trail features are in keeping with the land and yet they compliment the trails perfectly. Often they are subtle, like the rock that sets you up into a small hip jump on the KAFNARFA circuit.

Dusty Summer MTB trails at Cobbler Creek

Loop for first time visitors to Cobbler Creek

Start in the car park at the junction of Smith and Bridge Roads
Take the “Babbler loop” up to the top of the park, and follow the ridge/The Grove Way
Take either of the “Short and Sweet” trails back down to the information board
Ride under The Grove Way using the Tunnel Link trail and turn left after exiting
Join onto the “Ruins loop”, climb up to the ruins and continue climbing up the fire track, you will see the singletrack before long
When you are at the boundary of the park, turn back down towards the Tunnel Link trail to begin descending
Whether you take the Valley circuit or the Ruins loop, it doesn’t really matter
- The Valley circuit will sure enough, take you through a valley with a rock garden
- The Ruins loop is faster and more flowy – wide corners and small, safe jumps

A lot of trails were blown out by the end of Summer in Cobbler’s first official year however the Winter rains will hopefully help them to properly bed in for next year. Whether or not there is funding for a contractor to maintain these trails in the future, I don’t know. There may be potential to organise a trail maintenance crew at some stage.

Worth noting during Summer, the park is in the Adelaide Metropolitan Fire ban district. Often it is legal to ride in Cobbler Creek Recreation Park on days when most other MTB trails are off limits. Keep in mind that there is no water source in the park though, so come with plenty of as it is one of the drier places to ride in SA.

As always, remember that Cobblers is shared use. It’s not uncommon to come across an off-leash dog in the park too so always ensure you can see what is coming and make sure to give all trail users plenty of room, even if the rule book may say you have right of way. Remember, we’re all in the park for the same reasons – to have fun, stay healthy and be happy.