General News
25 November, 2025
Mareeba trails on map
MAREEBA’s mountain biking scene could soon be a tourism hotspot for cyclists around the nation, with a ‘Destination Davies’ media campaign putting the trails and local businesses on the map.
Mountain biking has become one of the fastest-growing activities in recent years and the Davies Creek Mountain Bike Park aims to be the next stop on the list for many biking enthusiasts.
The Mareeba Mountain Goats (who operate the trails) collaborated with one of the country’s most well-known mountain biking media outlets, Flow Mountain Bike, which just released a professionally filmed video and article via their website.
A $95,000 grant through the Gambling Community Benefit Fund enabled the club to work with Flow as well as carry out upgrades such as new infrastructure, rock-armoured trails (making them more weather resilient), improvements to trail signage, and the purchase of a defibrillator.
But more so, the club can now promote a tourism package that combines mountain biking and the many nearby attractions on offer, such as natural landscapes and local businesses.
“That funding support gave us the chance to do something big – not just upgrade the cycling infrastructure at Davies Creek, but to also launch our Destination media campaign through the team at Flow,” club treasurer Rudi De Faveri said.
“We saw an opportunity to achieve two main outcomes with the Destination campaign. First was to develop a professional media campaign with video and photography that not only showcased the mountain biking opportunities around Mareeba but to also illustrate everything that makes Mareeba special.
“Like our natural beauty, our outdoor lifestyle, the wonderful characters that live here, and the extensive experiences that our community has to offer people visiting our region.
“The second was to develop media material that could be utilised to advocate our Destination Davies concept plan to key persons across all government levels – local, state and federal. This part is still in progress.”
Speaking at the Destination Davies official launch recently, Mountain Goats president Steven Soda said this latest milestone was part of the club’s ambitious plans for the future.
“It is with great pleasure and excitement that our club is able to share our vision for the future of mountain biking in Mareeba – a vision that has been slowly coming to fruition over many years to get to where we are today,” he said.
“Through various amounts of funding over these years… we have had the opportunity to watch our trails grow and develop into one of the most popular beginner trail networks in the region.
“We’ve always known Mareeba is a special place with so many opportunities to bring riders not only to ride but to see what we have on offer within our shire.”
Mr De Faveri said the club’s overarching plan is ambitious – setting out to add an additional 60-80km of trail to the existing 26km.
“Some of the key components of the additional trails will be: creating unique flow trails from the top of the falls down to the lower elevations; connecting campgrounds, park areas and significant cultural sites through a multi-use recreation path; adding an international-level cross-country circuit, and much more.
“While new mountain bike parks are proliferating, very few can match the diverse recreational, sporting, and cultural activities offered by our Destination Davies concept.”
Flow’s Emma Chadwick and Joel Sutherland enjoyed the trails and loved everything else on offer locally.
They visited Davies Creek Falls, Granite Gorge, Golden Drop Winery, Blundell’s Classic Ford Museum, Emerald Creek Ice Creamery, Mareeba Heritage Centre, Coffee Works, Hungry Pug Cafe, and Secret Recipe.
“Mareeba offers something quite different from the rest of the region and surrounding mountain bike networks. It feels stripped back and raw with granite rock rather than red clay as the foundation of the trails. This grit is also reflected in the character of the town,” Ms Chadwick wrote in her article about her time in Mareeba.
“It’s the home of the best ice cream I’ve consumed outside of Italy and water holes that put the Great Northern ads to shame. The place has character and quirks that only a region with such a rich history can offer.”
