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Malabar Headland
The guys over at Rotorburn have been talking about a network of singletrack out on the Malabar Headland south of Maroubra.
I sussed out this morning and it's pretty good for something so close to the city.
Here's the map.
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=...
The terrain is a mixture of tight technical singletrack, and Moab style bare rock with lots of technical features.
This definitely provides another local option and is potentially another Manly Dam with good management.
The area is little used at the moment, just a few hikers, bike riders and horse riders out there.
Apparently the old Rifle Range is in the process of being decommissioned, and you guessed it, the State Govt wants to sell the headland off to developers (ie: donors with brown paper bags).
The feds on the other hand want to make it a national park or conservation area.
Will be interesting to see how this goes. There's a lot of housing commission and bored youth in the area, and a well managed set of bike tracks and jumps would definitely give the locals something to do.
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Where do you park the car at, near the sewerage plant ? Then ride around the headland area ?
You can park pretty much anywhere in the vicinity. There's a council carpark, next to the footy field.
Hi everyone,
A serious warning here - ANZAC Rifle Range is an active, live firing rifle range.
As far as my sources tell me (a regular, currently active, long-term full bore shooter), it will NOT be closed down in the near future. The area shown being ridden in the link above is in fact part of an "exclusion" zone behind the butts of both ranges used at Malabar. The pdfs I quickly googled below, describe/give some info on range safety/security/rules:
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_f...
http://www.aihpa.com/Clubs/Sydney/ANZAC/ANZAC-RS...
It is clear that not only is it quite silly to be riding where bullets may "fall", but it is also "against" the law. The fact that "they aren't shooting at the moment" is not a good enough excuse to go have a ride at the range - it is blatantly irresponsible.
AND before we get all antsy about trail access etc, it should be known that Malabar is the only full bore range in central Sydney - the other closest one being Hornsby - a much smaller facility. Not only that, it is also apparently the largest in the southern hemisphere - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_Rifle_Range - and host to state and national championships.
If we would all prefer Malabar Headland to be developed into another golf course, rather than a world class sporting facility, then sure, lets hope they get kicked out asap. But otherwise, perhaps a better approach would be to contact the NSWRA - http://www.nswra.org.au/ - and like the Horse Riding Club, try to set up a co-operative relationship. The more people who use the range in the current format, the longer it will exist like that for the public.
Cheers,
Lance.
i used to shoot for school ... and a friend's dad jim sweet used to be a bit of a legend on the range (sweets oil) ... as a kid i took a couple of rifles out to my dad's farm with jim's son greg for a bit of experimentation ... we shot through trees thicker than your torso and the exit hole was quite a shock ... bottom line is i've shot on that range and played with those type of guns and unless you had a death wish i wouldn't risk riding behind the line of fire even when you think no one is on the range ... it's a bit like that saying "the gun is ALWAYS loaded" ...
hey everyone! this is my first post/visit here
anyway not sure if this is a good or bad thing but the shooters on malabar headland have recently been evicted, i say its hard to see if this is a good or bad thing as although its safer to ride there now, the area which was the rifle range may well be sold off to developers now if nothing is done. although it is unlikely the area on which the trails are would go as it is to become part of botany bay national park. if the site is developed it is quite possible the new land owners would try to stop mtb's. if done properly, i agree the site could be the next manly dam and be quite sustainable, if so it would also help protect the local environment of malabar headland. ive riden there a few times now and it seems quite safe although i'd recomend some cautuion just incase. if anyone is interested i could probably show anyone the area if they want.
by the way, i found the best way to enter was to park at the end of fishermans road in the carpark and go through the gate and up the bitumen road which starts just out of site behind the scrub. just follow the trail and u should be right.
cheers, kieran.
The range is still in use!
http://www.nswra.org.au/
If I were you, I'd wait until they're definitely evicted before riding there.
I hope their petition works and they get to stay there, the only reason I can see for them to be kicked off is pressure from developers and a big cheque for the government.
i know what u mean, it would be horrible if the site were to be turned over to developers! hopefully the site can stay as it is. although i really think the site has the potential for some really good xc trails and maybe even a few downhill sections. with some talk with the riffle range people and the horse club maybe it could happen one day soon.
it really is unbelievably frustrating how the government will sell of pieces of land like this to make itself some quick money.
today,but they were shooting up at the range.it hasnt closed down as yet.also the google map of the place is well outdated as its grown over massively from the fishermans rd entrance-it is in fact so over grown that its no longer ridable at least the start of it anyway.....