Top 10 Bikepacking trails
Bikepacking is the combination of mountain biking and minimalist camping. It provides the freedom of multi-day backcountry mountain bike riding. It’s about exploring places less traveled, both near and far, via singletrack trails, gravel, and abandoned dirt roads, carrying only the essential gear. Ride, eat, sleep, repeat, enjoy!
A 1,000 km journey through the rooftop of Australia along backcountry trails, across exposed high plains, through snow gum woodlands and among tall native forests. The trail links Canberra to Melbourne with limited resupply points and some of Australia’s best high country campsites.
Developed in 2016 by Dan Hunt, the Hunt 1000 is a bikepacking route that links two of Australia’s major cities, Canberra and Melbourne, and traverses some of Australia’s most beautiful high country. The route links some amazing campsites and historic alpine huts, provides a limited number of resupply points, and mixes in some challenging hike-a-bike sections, as well as river and creek crossings.
Encompassing the Kosciuszko, Alpine and Namadgi National Parks, the Hunt 1000 route takes you into the heart of these remote and uniquely Australian alpine wilderness areas. The Australian Alps have a geological history dating back 160 million years and are unlike regions commonly associated with the term alpine, such as the Andes or the Himalayas. Rather, the Australian alpine region is essentially an uplifted plain made up of grand plateaus surrounded by eroded steep valleys. The nature of the landscape means you will spend hundreds of km’s on top of the world. But, what goes up must come down and you’ll work hard for those high trail views.
Weaving together a network of fire trails, alpine paths, gravel tracks and country roads, sometimes you’ll wish you had a randonneur with slick 32’s, other times you’ll wish you had a fat bike, and sometimes it just doesn’t matter because its too steep to pedal. The trail conditions and the elevation profile are about as varied as the alpine weather can be. This all combines to make the route a beautiful challenge.
On the back roads and trails your unlikely to have any company other than your thoughts and the occasional wild brumby however, when you pass through the small towns the friendly locals love to have a chat. If you make it to Omeo in time for an afternoon beer then stop in for a pot at the Hilltop Hotel.
Note: the route cannot be completed during the Australian winter and should only be attempted during the warmer months between October and March.
All info from Wikipedia.