Wilderness by bike: The Munda Biddi Trail

By John Pickrell 29 February 2012
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Upon completion, Western Australia’s 1000km trail will be one of the world’s longest, dedicated, off-road cycle tracks.

OPENED IN 2003, the northern section of Western Australia’s Munda Biddi (‘path through the forest’ in one of the local Nyungar dialects) winds over 498km from Mundaring, in the Darling Range, to Nannup on the Blackwood River.

It zips through thick forest and open patches of dry bushland, lovely river valleys, and along a massive escarpment that looks out over a 30km-wide coastal plain to the Indian Ocean.

“It’s a cycling wilderness experience that’s probably the best you’ll get in Australia,” says Munda Biddi Trail Foundation (MBTF) volunteer Stewart Parkinson. “In some of the state forests, you’re going into areas that are totally uninhabited and you’re the only person for miles. It’s quite primeval.”

Find a video of the Munda Biddi Trail here.

Wilderness by mountain bike

An additional section has now opened 84km further south to Manjimup, but the grand plan is yet to be realised. The Munda Biddi Trail will eventually wend all the way down through the stately karri forests of the south via Walpole and Denmark to Albany.

To this end construction crews are working in tandem. “We’ve just opened the section through to Manjimup and now we’re working on two fronts – one from Albany and one from Manjimup,” says Ron Colman, chairman of the MBTF. “In late 2012 we’re looking for completion and in November we’ll do the inaugural end-to-end ride finishing in Albany.”

Find the full story on, and our complete guide to the Munda Biddi Trail in the March/April edition of Australian Geographic (107) 

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