The category-leading Ride High Country Gravel Network is here and ready to ride. Roll out of the everyday and onto the High Country’s endless gravel roads with over 50 digitally mapped, ground-truthed and comprehensively detailed gravel routes.
From the smooth, vineyard lined gravel of the King Valley to the soaring mountain peaks of Falls Creek and beyond, the Ride High Country Gravel Network criss-crosses the High Country’s diverse geographic tapestry with mild to wild routes for gravel cyclists of all skill levels.
Each route in the Ride High Country Gravel Network’s first edition was ground-truthed to develop a suite of world-class gravel cycling products. Utilising Victoria’s High Country’s tracks, trails and unpaved country roads, these gravel routes criss-cross and connect key tourism destinations within the Rural City of Wangaratta, Mansfield, Indigo, Alpine and Towong Shires, plus the Alpine Resorts of Falls Creek, Mt Buller/Mt Stirling and Mt Hotham with over 2,000km of gravel routes featuring 35,000m of climbing.
As part of the network, new gravel cycling trailheads have been purpose-built as the starting and finishing points for all routes, acting as focal points for the visitors’ journey into world-class cycling. Each hub centres on striking wayfinding signage, incorporating destination descriptions, regional maps and route descriptions featuring QR codes linking to downloadable GPX digital wayfinding maps, videos, route profiles and more.
In addition, each trailhead has been tailored to its destination with inclusions such as bike tool stations, bespoke bike racks made from repurposed local materials, water fountains, bike washes, e-bike chargers and more.
In conjunction with the project, Ride High Country is proud to have developed Australia’s first gravel route difficulty standards. Endorsed by National Sporting Organisation AusCycling, The Ride High Country Gravel Difficulty Rating System uses the easily identifiable green to double black symbols associated with alpine snowsports and mountain biking. This new, rigorously tested system leads the way with formalising gravel route grading, enabling riders to confidently match their skill level to the appropriate route based on gravel surface, elevation gain, distance, bike type, remoteness and more.
Funded by the Federal Government via the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Grants Program, the Ride High Country Gravel Network places Victoria’s High Country at the forefront of the rising gravel cycling wave. The network will competitively drive demand to generate sustained long-term economic activity and build on the region’s reputation as Australia’s premier cycling destination.
