Gravity Eden – Dirt Surfing at NSW South Coast’s Newest Mountain Bike Park 

Mountain bikers! It’s time to add Gravity Eden to your ride list. Gravity Eden Mountain Bike Park is the latest offering in Australia’s growing mountain bike scene, unassumingly tucked away in the little coastal town of Eden, NSW.

We Are Explorers acknowledges that this adventure is located on the traditional Country of the Thaua/Thawa People who have occupied and cared for the lands, waters, and their inhabitants for thousands of years. We pay our respects to them as the Traditional Custodians and recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.

Quick Overview

Located on NSW’s Sapphire Coast, Gravity Eden Mountain Bike Park is home to over 58km and 300m of elevation of premium gravity-fed singletrack.

Surrounded by beautiful forest and just a hop away from the surf, you’ll find Gravity Eden halfway between Sydney and Melbourne and a 3.5 hour drive from Canberra.

Read more: Mountain Biking Slang 101

It’s a mountain biker’s garden of Eden

About Gravity Eden

While riding at Gravity Eden, I shared a few pics to my Instagram stories and received a DM, ‘Hey, are you riding Derby?’.

Nope, we’re not at Blue Derby, but as someone who’s a huge fan of the mountain bike mecca that is Derby, I’d say I’m pleasantly surprised at the quality of trails I was riding in the small town of Eden on the NSW South Coast. I wonder if Gravity Eden has the potential to turn the tides on this low-key town in the same way Blue Derby has done?

Gravity Eden’s History

Not dissimilar to Derby and its mining to mountain bike history, small-town Eden’s history lies in primary industries – timber and commercial fishing. With the closure of the town’s major employer, a cannery, in the late 90s, along with the decline of the sawmills, the town’s economy faced huge change.

Top this off with savage bushfires that destroyed parts of the region, and the region’s been ravaged. But enter stage left, with the assistance of a bushfire recovery grant and spearheaded by local Stan Soroka – the development of Gravity Eden.

Now it’s a world-class place to fang it on two wheels!

How to Get to Gravity Eden

Bearing in mind its regional location, and the fact you’ll be needing to transport bikes at some point (whether you BYO or hire locally), you’re most likely travelling to Gravity Eden by car.

From Sydney, it’s a 6-7 hour drive. From Melbourne, it’s much the same. Canberra is the closest city, at just 3.5 hours away. The park itself is just minutes north-west of the town itself and local access is easy via sealed roads up to the main trailhead.

If you don’t fancy a long drive, the region is served by Merimbula Airport, a 20-minute drive away. Daily flights from Sydney and Melbourne land at Merimbula Airport where car hire is available.

Where to Stay around Gravity Eden

Hotel Australasia, Eden

A historic boutique hotel in central Eden with eight rooms. We didn’t stay here but did enjoy a post-ride feed in the bistro pub. The place has been lovingly restored to its former glory and it’s bursting with character.

Eden Motel

Nestled in the heart of Eden, Eden Motel has recently been renovated, with riders in mind, to include a completely secure pass-coded mountain bike storage facility and bike wash. Winning!

Pelican Motor Inn

A founding sponsor of Gravity Eden, Pelican Motor Inn is located 20 minutes from the park in Merimbula, just a short stroll (or pedal) away from the town’s shops and cafes and the lake.

Where to Camp Around Gravity Eden

Reflections Holiday Park, Eden

Home to cabins, powered, and unpowered sites, Reflections Holiday Park Eden is a step up from your classic caravan park, with the bonus of being close to Gravity Eden. Located right on the shores of Lake Curalo, it’s perfect for a post-ride cool-off.

Tathra Ecocamp, Tathra

A 45-minute drive from Gravity Eden, Tathra Ecocamp is just across the road from the surf, and a haven for camping, cabins, and awesome glamping tents. It’s also set up with mountain biking in mind, just a quick pedal from Tathra’s own mountain bike trails, and offers a free bike wash station on site.

Where to Eat Around Gravity Eden

There’s nothing onsite at Gravity Eden currently when it comes to food and drink, so take a quick spin into town for a pre-ride coffee or a post-ride feed.

Sprout, Eden

Sprout is your local health food café, all about serving up delicious savoury and sweet treats, with a focus on local produce. This is the place to grab your oat flat white and vegan, gluten-free, locally grown snack.

Hotel Australasia, Eden

The perfect spot for woodfired pizzas and post-ride frothies, Hotel Australasia is home to a bar, bistro pub, and restaurant. The outdoor courtyard area out the back of the hotel has a modern vibe, is pretty relaxed and caters well for groups.

White Orchid Café, Tathra

A little further afield, but just across from the beach (and beside a bike hire option), this cute little café serves up delicious brekkies; smoothies that pack a fruity punch and a great coffee to fuel the day’s riding.

Loved this cafe during our visit!

Tathra Hotel, Tathra

The Tathra Hotel is an absolute pick for ocean views and oysters. It’s also home to the Humpback Brewery, with 11 beers on tap, brewed in the hotel’s own microbrewery, right behind the bar.

There are rooms here too, in case you need to stay after a bit of beer sampling… The huge deck is the perfect post-ride chill spot in spring and summer.

What to Do at Gravity Eden

Well, it’s a mountain bike park and you’re here to ride, but where to start?

There are so many different tracks to choose from

Rolling up to the main trailhead at Gravity Eden, the first thing you’ll see is the huge jumps park they’re building. You seriously can’t miss the giant red dirt jump lines, and when it opens, it’s going to be home to some major flexing on two wheels.

If you’re not quite ready for Crankworx, don’t be intimidated by this, the park has been designed for all levels of rider, from novice to pro.

Split into three zones, the park is divided between:

• Adventure Zone – This is the low-lying area around the trailhead with fun, easy trails, ideal for beginners. There’s also a cracking pump track here to get warmed up on before you hit the trails
• Flow Zone – A mix of easy/green and intermediate/blue trails winding in all directions around the park. You’ll do a bit of climbing but it’s absolutely worth it for the fast, flowy descents and big berms.
• Gravity Zone – At the top of the hill, as its name suggests, this is home to the gnarliest trails; steepest rock gardens and the biggest jumps.

My Pick of the Trails

• For novices and a warm up – Garden of Eden, is a cruisy little singletrack loop from the car park, winding through forests, beside creeks, and over bridges. Add to your ride with a longer loop of Thunder Box and Fore.
• For flow – Straight Six is the trail every single person I asked recommended. It’s an absolute belter of a descent – the epitome of fast and flowy! We climbed up to the top via a mix of Power Up and Breath of Fire.
• For gravity – Old Tom and Prana are the feature-packed black trails that fire you full send through the centre of the park.

There’s a huge trail map at the trailhead, but I also highly recommend downloading Trailforks onto your phone, as it’s a big network and pretty easy to get turned around in the trees if it’s your first time visiting.

Straight Six came highly recommended!

Essential Gear for Gravity Eden

• Mountain bike – ideally a dual suspension for maximum fun but there’s no reason a hardtail won’t cut it
• Helmet
• Pads depending on your riding style
• Bike repair kit
• Water bottle
• Sunscreen
• Trailforks app
• Optional shuttle pass – a dedicated shuttle bus has recently started. It’s not essential, but depending on how long you’re riding for, and how you like to ride, it’s a definite consideration.

We hired e-bikes to ride the park for a day and while I usually ride an analog bike, this was an absolutely epic way to see way more of the park than we otherwise would have.

Read more: Remember to leave no trace!

You can still enjoy the park if you don’t have a mountain bike, they’re available to rent!

What It’s Like to Visit Gravity Eden

Gravity and Glamping

Waking up in the glamping luxury of the beautifully furnished driftwood tent at Tathra Ecocamp, surrounded by kangaroos quietly grazing in the macropod area, was a comparatively serene way to kick off a day of speed!

View of the ‘roos

Hiring E-Bikes

E-bikes were certainly a cracking way to cover a lot of the park, and even then, we have more to uncover.

Shuttles would definitely be the go if you’re riding an analog bike and don’t like climbing – there’s a fair amount of pedally stuff in there, albeit it’s all really well built and fun.

Initial Impressions

With hired e-bikes packed into the ute, rolling up to the trailhead and seeing the huge jumps line was pretty daunting and also super impressive – especially for someone coming from the Sunny Coast where we have nothing like it in our designated mountain bike trail areas.

As luck would have it, not long after we’d unloaded the bikes and enjoyed a warm-up lap on the pump track, we ran into local legend Stan from Eden Mountain Bike Club and the leader of this incredible project. There’s no better way to ride the park than getting trail recommendations from the man himself!

Heading for Straight Six

We kicked off from the car park, after a couple of loops of Garden of Eden (a scenic loop complete with cute bridges and waterholes) by linking up a bunch of greens and blues, with ‘Straight Six’ as the ultimate descent in mind.

The trails feel so well built and with a combination of switchback climbs and fast flowy descents through beautiful forest, there were some lasting smiles on the dial, that’s for sure.

Park map | Sourced from Gravity Eden

The main thing that struck me, as someone who’s ridden a fair bit in previous years but has barely mountain biked this past year, was how forgiving and flowy the trails are. I’m accustomed to navigating a bunch of rock gardens and roots, and while I know they’re in there, the trails we rode were smooth and forgiving.

You could really let it go on the descents, with super fun big berms and very rollable drops and jumps in the mix.

Exploring the Park

There’s heaps of trail to cover and we weren’t hanging around. Our main goal for the day – in addition to exploring a bunch of green and blue trails (leaving the blacks to the pros on this occasion), was to ride what seems to be the favourite blue descent, ‘Straight Six’.

We rolled around the park non-stop on e-bikes over two hours, only for me to discover that while I was consciously saving my battery on eco and working up a sweat, the blokes up ahead were just giving it laldy in boost mode for much of the time!

Seems I have a bit to learn about e-bike riding. In that time we covered just over 20km of trails, with over 700m of climbing – which isn’t insignificant.

Slowly ascending…

Tips For Visiting Gravity Eden

• If you’re not BYO, hire is available at Cycle n Surf, Merimbula. We hired e-bikes in Tathra from Tathra Beach and Bike and strapped them onto our ute
• Although there’s a lot of shady forest cover, some sections are pretty exposed to the elements, which you’ll want to consider in the summer months
• These trails are maintained by volunteers who put in some serious hard yards to keep it all running, in amongst testing weather events, so make sure to be respectful of them. Before heading out on your ride, check for the latest trail updates via the Eden Mountain Bike Club Facebook page and the Trailforks website or app

FAQs of Gravity Eden

Do I have to pay to ride at Gravity Eden?

Nope! It’s totally free to visit and ride. The only payment you might make is if you decide to hire bikes.

Is there somewhere I can see the latest track updates in Gravity Eden?

Make sure to check Trailforks or the Eden Mountain Bike Club Facebook page to know what’s happening in the park.

Can I ride at Gravity Eden as a beginner?

Absolutely! We’d suggest heading to the Adventure Zone area of the park, which is tailored better to learning and developing your skills as a rider. From there, you can progress to the Flow and Gravity Zones when you feel more confident.