December 15th, 2022Dirt Art clinches Creswick bike trail contract

Hepburn Shire Council has awarded a contract to construct the 60-kilometre Creswick
Trails Network to Australian company Dirt Art, a world leader in mountain bike trail
construction.
Dirt Art has constructed mountain bike trails overseas and around Australia, including at
Harcourt, the Grampians, Gold Coast, Thredbo and Tasmania.
“The 60 kilometres of mountain bike and shared trails will be an enormous drawcard for
Creswick and our Shire, bringing with it a host of economic, tourism and employment
opportunities,” said Mayor, Cr Brian Hood.
“As the venue for mountain biking at the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games, the trails
will put Creswick and Hepburn Shire in the global spotlight,” he said.
“The trails will contain a variety of ride experiences and difficulty levels. We know there
are plenty of people looking forward to trying out the trails once they are completed.”
The network’s planning and design occurred throughout 2019-2021 in consultation with
the community, multiple land managers, stakeholders and Traditional Owners, and
received a planning permit in early 2022.
The Network’s trails are mostly Green/Beginner (20%), Blue/Intermediate (42%),
Black/Very Challenging (13%) and forest road (5%). Approximately 30% of these trails are
designed and constructed to be adaptive and are suitable for use by hand cycles. Hammon
Park on Water Street in Creswick serves as the trailhead for the Creswick Trails.
Works are expected to begin on the trail network in early 2023. Construction will take around 18 months.