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20 November 2011
DH Section of the Playground complete!
The playground continues to develop. We have just completed and opened the DH section of the Playground featuring 2 wall rides a drop zone with 5 levels of difficulty a jumps section and some flat turns. All levels are catered for and fun and progression is the aim behind the whole Playground concept.
Come and have a ride. You'll love it!
About Us
Stromlo Forest Park News
20 November 2011
DH Section of the Playground complete!
The playground continues to develop. We have just completed and opened the DH section of the Playground featuring 2 wall rides a drop zone with 5 levels of difficulty a jumps section and some flat turns. All levels are catered for and fun and progression is the aim behind the whole Playground concept.
Come and have a ride. You'll love it!
20 November 2011
Makin Trax secures 4yr maintenance contract at Stomlo Forrest Park
We have just secured a 4yr maintenance deal with the ACT government to supply track maintenance and construction services at Stromlo Forrest Park. We delighted to have the opportunity to continue our relationship with Stromlo Forrest Park and look forward to developing the park to its full potential.
5 September 2011
The Playground is open!
Andrew Barr MLA officially opened the new 2km test track 'The Playground' at Stromlo Forest Park. The track is a trail loop using new and existing trails and encompasses a wide range of mountain bike terrain with features that include jumps, drops, technical climbing and descending and caters for a range of skill levels.
Come and have a ride!
* View official opening footage
filmed and edited by Tom Finnigan
* Read Media Release
5 September 2011
SFP to host MTBA national series Feb 2012
Today Andrew Barr MLA announced that Stromlo Forest Park will host two rounds of the Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) national series in February 2012. The events to be held on successive weekends are the:
- Gravity Cup (downhill) on the weekend 4-5 February; and
- All Mountain Cup (cross country) on the weekend 11-12 February
These events traditionally attract in excess of three hundred entrants and two to three thousand spectators. Additionally we expect these rounds will attract a huge a national and global audience.
5 May 2011
Wet weather puts the brakes on track development
Well its not news that eastern Australia has suffered a very very wet period and Canberra has not been immune. The result has been the closure of SFP just before Christmas for a few weeks as it was just too dangerous to ride. No track had been spared and every track needed some sort of attention. New bridges had to be installed and some areas needed to be completely re-worked to make them ridable again. Following the initial work the tracks were quite rough and not as they used to be but the natural evolutionary process of a track has returned the tracks to a much better standard than a few months back and providing we don't get a repeat of the 2010 rains things should continue to improve.
6 May 2011
Signs up and Willo Link finished!
Well the signs are now installed which signifies the completion of Willo Link. This track was conceived and constructed in memory of James Williamson, world champion mountain biker who died last year. The track was officially opened just before the World Solo 24hr last year but was not completed till this year as it has been too wet. The Willo Link provides a way to get to the back of SFP without having to ride to the top of the mountain and also opens up many more options for racing without encroaching on the equestrian tracks.
8 December 2010
Once in a generation storms close Stromlo, Tidbinbilla, Cotter and many other places.
Well the staging of the World Solo 24hr championships at SFP couldn't have been better timed. The week following the event saw the beginning of a wet period that hasn't occurred in nearly 40yrs. Last week saw a rain event that has been called a once in a generation occurrence and SFP has been closed since as there are too many hazardous areas. A picture tells a thousand words.
27 September 2010
Father of mountain biking gives Stromlo Forest Park the thumbs up!
Recently Trek Australia held its 2011 mountain bike launch at SFP. Gary Fisher was in town to celebrate the new product line and the recent launch of the Trek Australia HQ here in Canberra. In conversation he commented on what a great place Stromlo is and how there needs to be more places of its calibre. The Trek delegates and store owners spent 3 days putting the new bikes and the Stromlo track
s through their paces.
2 june 2010
Recent work at Stromlo Forrest Park
Following the weekends Capital Punishment 100km race we took the opportunity to do some reworking of some areas on the climb and in particular at Echidna Gap. We are also trialing a new material that should be a lot more resilient than the native soils
22 January 2010
Work on Old Duffy
Doing some remedial work to some of the rollers on Old Duffy today. Definitely not the ideal weather for this but we lengthened and eased the take off of the rollers. This section of track is now working well with the speed control measures that have been implemented as there is no skidding while maintaining good speed and flow
15 January 2010
Maintenance at Stromlo Forest Park
Back from the Christmas break and there is clear evidence of huge numbers using the tracks at SFP. The first port of call was the berm that follows Old Duffy to restore it to it's former glory..
21 december 2009
New warning signs at Stromlo Forest Park
One of the last jobs for the year is to install a few warning signs at some of the technical alternatives on the track. Also some 'one way go back' signs have been installed to help direct users in the right direction.
4 november 2009
Pit of Despair gets a make over
Today we re-engineered the Pit of Despair in the middle of the ABC Switchbacks. You know, the wet rocky section that never seems to dry out. We imported over a dozen 100kg+ rocks to the site, tore out the whole section and completely rebuilt it. This area was originally build on the 1st CORC working bee at SFP way back in 2006 and has done a remarkable job in keeping the100,000's of riders out of the natural spring that lives there. 
22 october 2009
More work on trail junctions
This week we spent time on importing topsoil and mulching the trail junction behind the 4X that shoots riders up the Cockatoo Switchbacks or down Rascals. This area is open and 'nude' and will benefit from some structure and plantings that we have embarked on. This is an extension of the newly formed main trail head near the carpark.
15 october 2009
Maintenance work starts again as big events finish for the year
Well the big events are over for the year so now its time to do some maintenance on the "well loved" tracks. This week following the Scott 24hr we did some work on Redrock Lookout to prevent short cutting and we installed some erosion control right at the end of the track.
We also began some much needed remediation to Ringtail on the approach to Wombat Jcn where the rocks were plentiful and the green level track had slipped into the blue level range. There will be some more significant work in this area in the coming weeks
20 SEPTEMBER 2009
Defining the main trail head
If you have ridden at SFP lately you would have noticed lots of rocks and topsoil and mulch being moved in around the main trail head. The purpose here is to plant out the newly formed garden beds to clearly define and delineate the tracks to corral riders into the correct directions. In years to come the trees (that will be planted soon) will provide some nice shade and a pleasant meeting spot.
1 - 6 SEPTEMBER 2009
UCI Mountain Bike and Trails World Championships comes to Canberra
Months of work preparing for this fantastic event paid off for Makin Trax around 40,000 spectators came out to see world's best riders from 41 countries in action at Stromlo Forest Park this week.
5 August 2009
Been doing some work on Emu Run this week, taking out the 'bones' (rocks) from the track and doing some slight re-alignments. We also have rebuilt the berm on the track too.
31 july 2009
Finally the work around Holdens Creek has finshed. The new cycle path from Uiarra Rd has been completed. We have cut some new bits of track in to link everything up on the beginner loop.
15 july 2009
We have been busy on the DH track lately getting ready for the World Champs in September. This week was no exception. The big berm at the top of triple treat got the Makin Trax treatment, all 150 tonnes of it! Yep about 150 tonnes of material was trucked in to boost its size....
15 july 2009
Minister Andrew Barr came out to Stromlo Forrest Park to check out the re-vamped Wallaby Run on the DH track. Makin Trax was given the task of speeding up this section and with loads of valuable input from Jared Rando, Makin Trax with Ben Cory have achieved this and more....
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15 july 2009
We have been busy on the DH track lately getting ready for the World Champs in September. This week was no exception. The big berm at the top of triple treat got the Makin Trax treatment, all 150 tonnes of it! Yep about 150 tonnes of material was trucked in to boost its size....
8 July09
Who said there were no trees at Stromlo Forrest Park? For the doubters here is a photo taken of us cutting in a new bit of off camber XC track for the World Champs.
2 July09
Gearing up for the World Champs at Stromlo Forest Park has been underway for quite a while now. Today saw the first sods turned for some XC changes to allow for a quicker return to the feedzone and more opportunities to overtake on single track. There will be some technical elements to the track additions to enable the more skilled riders to take full advantage and a dual slalom type section that will be in full view of the feedzone.
27 June 2009
The Holdens Creek mtb track has been closed due to the heavy machinery working in the immediate vicinity. If you have ridden at Stromlo lately you would be aware of some major road works going on around the Holdens Creek area. This is to provide a sealed road right into the Crit track. Should be finished in about 3 weeks
26 June 2009
Today we made some modifications to Luge just after the fire trail crossing. The 1st berm you come to following the fire trail had blown out badly so we rebuilt it making it taller and steeper in the last 2/3rds of the berm. The track between the berm and the fire trail was also suffering in areas due to riders ‘over cooking it’ and running off the track. So we realigned the track within the same corridor to regulate the speed and maintain the fun all the way down to the berm. The rain on Sunday made the freshly turned soil sloppy but this will remedy itself over time
12 June 2009
Today saw the completion of the initial signage rollout with the installation of the very large and prominent trail head signage. The trail head signage comprises the main trail map and six loops to follow with varying levels of difficulty. This will make navigation of the track network a lot easier for newcomers to the park and open up other options the more regular user
3 June 2009
It would be hard to miss the large piles of dirt on the road between Fenceline and Cockatoo Switchbacks. This is the start of decommissioning the haul road that was established to build the 4x track a couple of years ago. In the near future some pretty cool options will emerge from the piles of dirt….watch this space…
13 May 2009
We began installing some 112 blue poles for the signs for the whole track network at Stromlo. This new signage will be a dramatic improvement on what is currently in place….stay tuned
1May 2009
Due to the developing danger of the dry creek crossing on the White Gums track we imported a ton of rock (literally) and built a new armored crossing upstream from the old crossing. We realigned the track to suit and closed the old alignment