World class bike trails, pump parks, outdoor theatres. What’s not to love?
Yet some are questioning why it the trails have yet to open and whether Tenterfield really needs a pump park or outdoor entertainment venue.
When completed, the set of trails will constitute some of the longest mountain tracks on the continent. There are only a handful of bike touring networks that can boast the 150+ kilometres and only Angry Bull Trails has made trails that are inclusive and adaptive.
A phased rollout is planned.
How come you haven’t hit the tracks? Because the difficulty of building bike trails exceeds the difficulty of riding them by many multiples. The project, says Angry Bull, is complex itself and is being delivered across public land managed by three different land managers, involving multiple government agencies across local, state and federal levels, and it began with extremely ambitious delivery timeframes.
The organisation is now working through the remaining operational, maintenance and land manager requirements needed before trails can open to the public.
The first land access approval was received from Local Land Services in March 2025, with further approvals received throughout late 2025 and earlier this year, according to the organisation.
All of this had to be finalised, dated, stamped and signed before the first shovel could be thrown.
Construction began on the large northern section by Trailworx Australia, a privately owned Australian company operating under the parent entity Furphy Infrastructure Group, associated with the Furphy family. Common Ground Trails have also been engaged to construct the trail network, including delivering The Yards Bike Park.
Angry Bull Trails told the Town & Country Journal that they had hoped to start opening trails during the 2026 winter season, but, as happens with large projects, approval and construction process have taken longer than initially anticipated. Trails will open when the remaining requirements and land manager approvals are complete.
Behind the scenes, the organisation is finalising insurance, emergency and risk management systems, operational plans, trail audits, mapping, trail naming and signage, alongside construction of trailheads, access points and supporting infrastructure.
A traffic calming obstacle near Lindrook Road was erected by Tenterfield Shire council two weeks ago, as part of the requirements of the State Forest.
Mayor Bronwyn Petrie says she has received calls from people as far away as Western Australia asking when the trails will open.
What about the Pump Track?
A high quality pump track was once a goal of council, particularly Mayor Petrie, but council could never quite deliver.
Angry Bull Trails says The Yards Bike Park and Event Pavilion projects represent approximately $4 million in grant funding, with $2.5 million allocated to The Yards precinct, including bike park infrastructure, skills tracks, jump lines, amenities, site furniture and landscaping, and a further $1.5 million awarded for the Event Pavilion.
The pump track is proposed to be on council managed crown land in Landers Street on the southern half of what is locally known as the Hockey Fields, and will soon come to Tenterfield Shire Council as a Development Application.
Due to competing funding needs and the requirement for flat land with no native title claim on it, council’s original plan for a pump track shrunk in size and scope.
Happily, Angry Bull Trails secured a large grant for the pump track, relieving council staff from preparing a tender for track design, project managing, maintenance, or acquitting a grant. The mayor says the grant is larger than what council would have expected to receive.
The plan for a covered stage and event pavilion at the northern end of the pump track is a gift to Tenterfield insofar as public infrastructure.
An outdoor elevated stage would enable organisations to hold events and be assured equipment is undercover without having to pay for the hire of a stage.
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