Kincumber Reserve sits between the suburbs of Kincumber and Erina, just south of Gosford. This includes the mountain containing the downhill trail, and the surrounding single tracks and fire trails. The drive from Sydney on the F3 should take around 45 minutes. Use the first Gosford turn off past the reptile park.

For those who want to do the climb (intermediate and above) the easiest parking is located at Erina Fair Yellow Carpark or in Bronzewing Drive, Erina. There is a locked gate to the south showing the way onto the connecting fire trail, with parking for all on the surrounding street. In fact, we found this to be an ideal locale for a post ride beer! Ledge Greggy!

Up and Back

Enter at the gate and then turn immediately right onto the trail. You will have two options, either the Torulosa Trail (first on right) or the Blue Hills West Fire Trail. My preference is the Torulosa Trail which is a bit more technical but less steep than the Fire Trail. Essentially the Torulosa Trail is a widish walking path rather than true single track, and there is enough room for uphill and downhill traffic to pass safely. After negotiating various rock gardens the Torulosa Trail rejoins the Blue Hills West Fire Trail about 4/5 of the way to the top of the hill. From here, the remaining distance to the top is essentially two climbs with a plateau for a rest. The vertical climb is about 200m in total from Erina Fair.

At the top of the hill the Blue Hills West Fire Trail connects to the Yanina Trail. However a more interesting alternative is to turn left immediately as you crest the final climb (the Nyari Lookout is on your right), onto a single track which cuts through the bush and takes you out at the communications tower 200m later. From the tower, continue left then right to loop around to the Colin Watters lookout with views to the East out over the Tasman Sea.

From the Colin Watters Lookout, join the Yanina Trail and head South past the intersection with the Blue Hills West Fire Trail. After about 300m you will find a single track entry on your right which is marked by two square galvanised steel posts from which a sign has been removed.

The single track is well defined, with a few intermediate drop offs (with B Line options) along the way. The single track exits onto another firetrail, at which you will turn right (down hill). Follow the firetrail for about 200m to the Warriwarri Lookout.

From here on it is time to decide how to get back down. Either retrace your steps, or take the challenge of The Pegasus. Personally, I prefer to try my luck with the Pegasus and walk those parts which are beyond my capabilities (I am probably high end beginner/low end intermediate, riding a 29" XC bike).

The Pegasus starts with the rock garden to the left of the Warriwarri Lookout sign. The rock garden starts turns left at the cliff edge and leads to the Downhill section. Not a "downhill racing" trail per se, this trail is more a technical single trail that has some jump / drop elements built into it by the locals. All jumps / drops have a chicken run, so everyone can have a close look at the technical elements before attempting anything. The top of the Pegasus has a few switchbacks which can be loose when the ground is dry.

The first part of the downhill trail involves some steeper technical single trail amongst these boulders, with some larger rocks and leaf litter to negotiate. It can get quite steep in places, as some of us found out (yes Rob, you think I didn't know you stacked it there!!). This section requires slow roll downs of the surrounding terrain. The end of this section flows onto a downhill single trail leading to some jumps and drops.

Anyone for some air?

Here the downhill trail speeds up as the rocky part of the trail is left behind, for a moment. As speed increases, the dirt trail runs downhill towards a large jumping obstacle, perfect for those with the bigger bikes (or bigger something else!). There is an A-line and B-line. The A-line on the left consists of a large 3 foot high kicker jump with a 5 feet fly onto a table top rock, and a 4 foot drop off of the rock onto the ground. The B-line on the right consists of a ramp onto the table top rock, with the same 4 foot drop onto the ground. Although straight-forward enough for a decently skilled technical rider, there is some element of risk involved with these jumps. But it is by god a fantastic jump!!

Clearing this launch and landing, the trail continues along on the flat for a while, with a series of fast and flowing sections, with dirt jumps to keep you busy and interspersed with tree roots and rocks. Almost perfect for any technical rider, or those looking to get better at this kind of riding. All of the jumps here are about 1-2 feet tall, making for some serious grin factor as you are barrelling along here.

At the bottom of the Pegasus you cross Nunns Creek which is nice and shady and usually a good opportunity to rest before climbing back out. The climb back to Bronezewing Drive isn't too arduous, being quite shady and along single track. When you come to the houses you have the option of taking the concrete access ramp (on your left) to the road or continuing around to the start of Blue Hills West Firetrail and starting all over.

The total loop from the entrance gate at the Base of Blue Hills West Fire Trail via Pegasus and back to the gate is about 6 - 6.5km.

No doubt by now you and your friends are high on adrenaline and talking about how cool this trail was, and are eager to get to the top to do it all again. If you have the ability, you can shuttle run up to the top (via Island View Drive from the South) using a vehicle, as there are access roads to do so. Sweet!

Other Distractions

There are also surrounding fire trails on the side of the mountain that have been explored, but are quite basic in their layout and technicality. Although, they are very useful for getting from one point in the reserve to the next. For anyone wanting to ride some km's on fire trails that will involve some decent hill climbing, this would be a good ride. You are sure to get a workout. All of the fire trails are well marked with signage by NPWS. You can see these marked on the Google Map attached to this trail review.

Eventually... when you've done with the climbing and XC capers roll on past the car park and facilities atop the reserve and feast your eyes on the rock playground up there. A nice area of drops and rolls - plenty of fun to be had honing one's skills here.

Sound nice? Why not head up to Kincumber for yourself and check it out. Make sure you say when you are going so the group can go too!