Bike park works heat up Haunted Hills
19/10/2022The Haunted Hills Bike Park is shaping up to become Central Gippsland’s premier mountain bike trail destination with new seating to support gatherings and events, thanks to Victorian Government support.
This investment has been made possible through the Living Local Fund. The grant will support installation of extra seats and new brickwork featuring a unique skull design in the barbecue area to allow for more space while providing shelter from the wind.
This new funding complements the Government’s previous support to extend the parks trails by an additional 15 kilometres. That project is funded through the Regional Tourism Investment Fund and is now underway and on track for completion by the end of the year.
The extension project also includes installation of electric barbecues, a bike wash and repair station and carparking upgrades, ensuring the park becomes a vibrant activity hub that locals and visitors can enjoy into the future.
The new seating and wall installation project is also expected to be completed by the end of this year with the park on track to become the flagship destination for Central Gippsland’s ‘G7’ Mountain Bike Hub.
When complete, the hub will eventually link seven diverse bike parks throughout Gippsland’s rolling hills and natural landscapes to keep locals fit and healthy while attracting more visitors.
Haunted Hills’ initial 12-kilometre mountain bike trail and pump track were opened in December last year, kickstarting the project’s journey to become a major mountain biking destination.
Managed by mountain bike club Gippsland MTB, the Haunted Hills Bike Park offers tracks for riders of all skill levels to experience. The name of the park stems back to the 1800s from local stories about rumbling sounds in the area along with cattle being startled and stampeding through the hills.
The $20 million Living Local Fund is part of the Government’s Our Regions: Living Local Initiative which will strengthen communities by supporting local organisations and councils to help regional Victoria thrive. Thanks to the Fund, more than 400 projects in regional and suburban Victoria are being supported.
The Living Local Fund is part of the Victorian Government’s record investment of more than $36 billion in regional and rural Victoria since 2015. For more information about the Fund, visit Living Local Regional Fund.
The Regional Tourism Investment Fund is part of the $633 million Victorian Government investment in the Visitor Economy Recovery and Reform Plan. For more information, visit Regional Tourism Investment Fund.