Trail Construction Brief
- TRUE BLUE

The Orange Mountain Bike Club is seeking a professional trail builder for the construction of True Blue, a new blue-rated trail in Glenwood State Forest. As the premier mountain biking destination in central NSW, Glenwood aims to fully utilise its 400m of elevation and diverse terrain to offer a complete range of trails for all skill levels. True Blue will play a key role in this vision by providing a much-needed intermediate progression trail.

  • Trail Purpose & Rider Experience

    True Blue is designed to bridge the skill progression gap in the network. While Trail of Awesomeness provides an accessible flow trail experience, there is a steep jump in difficulty to Glenwood’s technical, hand-built gravity trails. True Blue will act as a true intermediate stepping stone, helping riders develop confidence and technical ability before advancing to more challenging terrain.

    This trail should appeal to:

    • Enthusiast riders progressing beyond Trail of Awesomeness

    • Sport riders who ride regularly with solid technical skills

    • Gravity riders looking for high-speed flow with technical features

  • Key Features & Design Considerations

    • Moderate gradient of -7% average, provides a good pace with limited peddling or breaking.

    • Jumps up to 1500mm high, all rollable, with optional doubles for progression.

    • Flow-based design, integrating rollers, berms, and technical elements to maintain momentum.

    • Optional technical lines to provide skill-building opportunities.

    • Sustainable building practices to minimize ongoing maintenance requirements and enhance trail longevity.

  • Event & Tourism Potential

Finishing near the Gravity Event Centre, True Blue is expected to be a major drawcard for Glenwood’s Gravity Enduro and Super Flow events, which are key revenue generators for the club. The trail should increase rider participation, challenge experienced athletes, and serve as a cornerstone for progression in the trail network.

TRAIL SPECIFICATIONS

  • Location: Glenwood State Forest, Orange NSW

  • Name: True Blue (Working Title)

  • Trail Rating: Intermediate (Blue)
    As per Australian Mountain Bike - Trail Difficulty Rating Systems

  • Length: 1,810m

  • Start Elevation: 1007m

  • End Elevation: 883m

  • Difference: 124m

  • Average Gradient: -7%

  • Max Gradient: -20%

  • Width: 1200mm ± 300mm

  • Tread Surface: Mostly Firm and Stable, but possible sections of rocky or loose tread.

  • Max Height of Unavoidable Objects: 350mm

  • Estimated Soil Excavation: 1116m3 cut / 1073m3 fill
    (no external soil required)

  • Jumps: Tabletops, roll-able doubles and avoidable gap jumps to 1500mm high.

  • Suited Bike Types: Cross Country, Trail, All Mountain

  • Construction Method: Professionally built. Paid builders to be qualified with any machines operated. Covered with their own public liability insurance.

Site ANALYSIS

The optimal alignment for the trail has been determined through high-resolution LiDAR analysis and GIS software, ensuring a sustainable and flow-focused design.

  • Start: Positioned at a common trail junction, allowing riders to seamlessly link from other blue and black-rated trails from the forest’s highest point.

  • Finish: Near the Gravity Event Centre, providing a logical endpoint for events and integrating with the shuttle route.

The ground model identified elevations, major watercourses, and side slopes, critical factors for sustainable trail placement. A slope-by-rating diagram was produced based on the IMBA Half Rule, identifying areas suitable for blue trail. The alignment follows the west side of the block, skirting above a major gully, ensuring a 20-40% side slope for optimal drainage.

As a follow-up to the desktop analysis, the proposed alignment was ground-truthed to assess soil composition and vegetation.

  • LiDAR Source: Forestry NSW, 2024 (1m resolution)

  • Side Slope: 20-40%

  • Soil Type: Loam with medium-to-high clay content, scattered rounded basalt rock. One 100m rocky section, near the top has shallow topsoil, exposed rock slabs, and scattered boulders.

  • Vegetation: Primarily radiata pine plantation (3-4m high) with patches of blackberry and biddy bush; top rocky section features mostly eucalypts.

WATERSHED ANALYSIS

This analysis identifies major watercourses, their catchment areas and potential peak flow. It utilizes the LiDAR ground model, historical rainfall data, and runoff estimations to simulate water flow. This information has been used to determine pipe size requirements at major water crossings.
*pipes will be paid for by OMC, but installed by builder.

  • Data Sources:

    • LiDAR DEM: 1m resolution

    • Rainfall: DPI - Orange Auto Weather Station 421198 (Australian Government, Bureau of Meteorology)

    • Max Probable Rain Intensity: 20mm/hr

    • Runoff Coefficient: 0.3

Trail Guidelines

The International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) developed a set of guidelines for trail construction, which have been adapted by the Australian Mountain Bike Trail Guidelines. These guidelines were first published in 1993 and are considered the world-class standard for constructing natural surface trails, not just for mountain biking but for all trail use. The primary aim of these guidelines is to manage water flow on trails, thereby reducing erosion, maintaining trail quality, lowering maintenance costs, and protecting the surrounding environment.

  • The basic trail corridors, as supplied in GIS form, have been designed using guidelines 1, 2, 3.

  • Builders must follow guidelines 4. Grade Reversals & 5. Out Slope, to complete the process.

  • For full trail building, rating and safety guidelines, please refer to the Australian Mountain Bike Trail Building Guidelines.

Follow the 5 IMBA Guidelines for sustainable trail construction.
Note: gradient = elevation/distance

Trail Corridor
Dimension required for safe passage and visibility.

Trail Bench
Full benching is the preferred method for achieving durability and consistency in the tread surface of the trail. In cases where partial benching is unavoidable, such as around tree roots or impenetrable rock, a retaining wall made from excavated rock should be used to reinforce the downside and prevent erosion.

Watercourse Crossing
Trail should descend into any watercourse from both sides, and use nearby stone to harden any unavoidable wet sections.

See above for major watercourses where pipes are required.

LAND ACCESS GUIDELINES

As part of Orange Mountain Bike Club’s access agreement with Forestry NSW, all activities must adhere to the Glenwood and Canobolas State Forest Report on Environmental Factors (REF). Key considerations include:

  • Traffic Management: Riders must be slowed before fire trail crossings, and bike and fire trail users notified with signage.

  • Structures: Timber can not be used to construct any load bearing structures eg bridges. As over time they can degrade, give way, then injure someone. Rock or steel should be used.
    Its not anticipated that any structures, besides pipes, are required on this trail.

  • Endangered Species: Avoid disturbance of two endangered plants; Silver Leaf Candlebark and Prostanthera gilesii shrub.

  • Lichen Community: Avoid rocky outcrops containing Mt Canobolas Xanthoparmelia Lichen Community. This Lichen is unique to the area and particularly vulnerable to traffic with mountain biking listed as a specific threat.

  • Fire Danger: Trails are closed to riding and building during times of severe or higher bushfire threat. No building during complete fire ban.

For full guidelines, refer to: Canobolas and Glenwood SF MTB Track REF_Final V2.pdf

CONTROL POINTS

  • Click each item for more details.

GPS INSTRUCTIONS

GPS traces are provided to ensure the trail maintains a consistent gradient for flow, while reaching key locations. High-accuracy ground modeling has been used for precise plotting.

Builders should use accurate GPS hardware, such as a Garmin with multi-band frequency, which offers 1.8m positional accuracy. Advanced Trail Design can lend a handheld GPS if required.

Modifications may be made during the trail building process to avoid obstacles or incorporate features, provided you stay within approximately 7 meters of the trace.

GPS TRACE

Submit a Quote

Interested in building Orange’s next great trail? Submit your application below. The Orange Mountain Bike Club will assess bids based on:

  • Accurate response to project requirements

  • Demonstrated quality of past work, particularly on progression-based trails and sustainability factors.

  • Value for money

Key Dates:

  • Submissions Due: 23/03/2025

  • Construction Due: 30/06/2025

Contractor Requirements

  • Licenses & Compliance: Must hold all required licenses and adhere to NSW Workplace Safety & Forestry NSW guidelines.

  • Insurance: $20M Public Liability & relevant workers’ compensation.

  • Approvals & Payment: Work must pass OMC inspection before invoicing. The contractor may invoice in increments based on the percentage of work completed (e.g., 10% invoice for 100m of 1000m).

For inquiries, contact OMC Trails Manager Jack Rahilly at trails@orangemountainbikeclub.com.au
0407 249 971