Kalamunda Trails Review: Perth's Home Network

The Kalamunda mountain bike trails lace roughly 44 km of signed, one-way singletrack through Kalamunda National Park and the surrounding State Forest — 40 minutes east of Perth CBD, free to enter, and the busiest purpose-built MTB network in Western Australia. The dirt is jarrah-country laterite: red, loose at the surface on a hot summer afternoon, grippy and fast the morning after winter rain. A $3 million State Government upgrade announced in April 2024 is adding 8 km of new trail through 2026–27, pushing the network toward 60+ km and adding a proper car park at the base of Mt Gunjin.

Quick picks

• First-timer loop: Start at Calamunda Camel Farm, follow the waymarked beginner circuit or the Kalamunda Circuit (~12 km) — both loop cleanly back to the trailhead
• Best descents: Luvin Shovels or Lancaster off Mt Gunjin — Dirt Art-built black-diamond lines with ~100 m of vertical each
• Gravity sessions: Volunteer Steady Rack shuttle, select Sundays 8 am–12 pm — roughly $40 for 10 uplifts, $60 for 20
• Progression loop: Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll at Black Stump — technique boards and low-consequence features
• Best months: March to November; the sweet spot is after light rain when the laterite binds
• Cost: Free trails, free parking at all four DBCA trailheads
• Coffee: Calamunda Camel Farm café sits right at the main trailhead

Kalamunda at a glance

Getting to Kalamunda

All four trailheads sit off Mundaring Weir Road in the Paulls Valley and Pickering Brook area. Calamunda Camel Farm is the most useful starting point: most parking, the café, and bike hire on-site, and the trailhead marker is hard to miss from the road. Farrell Grove and The Dell drop you deeper into the network if you want to skip the entry climb; Black Stump puts you at the western end with direct access to the pump track and skills loop.

Public transport will get you to Kalamunda town centre, which is 5–10 km from any trailhead along Mundaring Weir Road. Practically speaking, you drive.

How big is the Kalamunda mountain bike trail network?

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Our database lists 83 named trails across the network, covering roughly 44 km of signed, one-way singletrack. The KMBC puts the breakdown at about 6 km of green, 34 km of blue, and three main black-diamond descents at Mt Gunjin. That split holds up well against what the trail layout actually delivers: this is predominantly a trail/XC network with a gravity pocket at one end, not the other way around.

Six waymarked themed loops — Beginners, Easy Cruisy, Dell, Three of Spades, Farrell Grove, and the Kalamunda Circuit — mean a first-time visitor can structure a day without a detailed map. The signage is better than most volunteer-built networks in Australia, and the one-way designation removes the head-on problem that plagues multi-use trails in the Perth Hills.

What kind of riding is it?

Rolling jarrah-country terrain. The climbs are genuine — there's enough elevation change to have you breathing — but nothing sustained enough to classify Kalamunda as a suffer-fest before you reach the descents. Most sessions involve looping: up the service trail or a blue climb, down a fast descent, back around.

The dirt itself is the defining variable. Red laterite over jarrah-root hardpack: at its best it's firm, predictable, and confident-inspiring on corner exit; at its worst — six weeks without rain in February — it becomes ball-bearing pea-gravel that spits the front wheel sideways when you lean. The trails ride an entirely different character in May. The one-way system is part of what makes Kalamunda function well in winter; without head-on traffic the wetter lines hold up, and a light overnight rain makes the whole network come alive.

Scorpion's wooden berms feature in nearly every local's ride-report because they hold their shape in summer when the dirt ones go powdery. Joey's Line — named after Canadian IMBA trail-builder Joey Klein, who ran an on-site workshop with KMBC volunteers — is one of the more flowing blue options and a reasonable first run before committing to the black descents.

The Kalamunda Circuit, the original 2011 loop that seeded the whole network, still makes a solid orientation ride. It links the Camel Farm trailhead, the Dell, and Farrell Grove in roughly 12 km, covering enough terrain to get a feel for the network's personality without an all-day commitment.

Mt Gunjin: the gravity pocket

Tasmanian trail contractor Dirt Art built the Mt Gunjin gravity trails on the summit and southern flanks of the highest point in the park. Three black-diamond lines descend from Mt Gunjin:

• Luvin Shovels — the original freeride descent, loose and committing, with natural rock features and around 100 m of vertical
• Lancaster — the other main Gunjin line, similar character and gradient
• Loco en el Coco — the technical option, tighter and more demanding; local consensus puts it as the most committing trail in the network

None of these are long by alpine bike-park standards. What they offer is real gradient and real rock on a network that's otherwise flowing blue — which makes the shuttle format make sense. Running four or five laps of Luvin Shovels on a Sunday morning with the Steady Rack shuttle is a different kind of day to the rest of the week.

The volunteer Steady Rack shuttle loads from the shuttle bay at the corner of Gunjin Road and Mundaring Weir Road, 8 am–12 pm on select Sundays. Cost is roughly $40 for 10 uplifts or $60 for 20, payable by cash or EFT (2% card surcharge applies). Shuttle dates are not weekly and school holidays book out fast — check the KMBC events page before driving out.

Note on current conditions (August 2026): The $3M upgrade project includes a formal car park at the Mt Gunjin base, which is new. Construction is ongoing through 2026–27 and some sections near Gunjin are temporarily inaccessible or redirected. Check the KMBC website or their Instagram before heading out to the gravity zone.

The green network and beginner options

The 6 km of green-graded singletrack starts at the Calamunda Camel Farm trailhead and is accessible to first-timers, kids, and anyone returning from a long break from riding. The features are low-consequence, the gradients gentle, and loop-back signage reliable.

Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll at the Black Stump trailhead is a purpose-built skills loop with technique boards at each feature — more useful for developing core skills than the green trail itself, which is basically just easy singletrack. If you've got someone along who has never ridden a mountain bike, start at Black Stump rather than throwing them straight onto the blue network from the Camel Farm.

The Black Stump Pump Track, built September 2012, is small but functional as a warmup. It's been there long enough that regular riders barely notice it anymore, but it earns its keep.

For structured coaching, Black Ram MTB runs clinics at Kalamunda. If you're at a plateau on blue trails, that's worth knowing.

What's changing: the $3M upgrade

In April 2024 the WA Premier announced $3 million from the State Government's Outdoor Adventure Tourism package to deliver the Kalamunda MTB Network Trail Concept Plan — a roadmap that trail design firm Common Ground Trails developed with KMBC, DBCA, and other stakeholders from 2022.

The project scope:

• ~8 km of new singletrack plus ~4.3 km of existing trail realignment
• A formal sealed car park at the base of Mt Gunjin (previously roadside shoulder parking)
• New toilet facilities at key locations
• Timeline spanning March–December 2026 and into 2026–27

Once complete, the network crosses 60 km of signed singletrack — up from the current ~44 km. For context, the original Common Ground Trails concept plan identified 18 km of potential new trail plus hub and parking upgrades; the $3M allocation is funding the priority tranche.

The practical reality right now: some trails are closed or redirected at any given time. The KMBC trails page and their social channels carry current closure notices. A section near Mt Gunjin was temporarily inaccessible as of mid-2026; the situation changes as construction stages are completed.

When to go

March to November is the riding season. Autumn and spring are the picks — temperatures comfortable, laterite dust settled, and the loop structure suits a late-afternoon session after the city heat breaks. Winter is genuinely good if you can tolerate the mornings; the one-way trail design handles wet-weather traffic better than most Perth-area networks, and a damp trail surface after light rain is exactly when Kalamunda rides fastest.

Summer is the complicated part. December through February the dust accumulates, corners get loose, and trail access can be restricted on Total Fire Ban days when the State Forest closes. DBCA publishes park alerts at exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au. Most experienced locals shift to pre-sunrise sessions or sit out the worst weeks entirely.

One seasonal note: the Munda Biddi Trail, the 1,000 km long-distance MTB route from Mundaring to Albany, passes through the Kalamunda network. Long-distance riders are on-trail year-round; the trailheads and facilities reflect that dual purpose, which is why parking and toilet coverage across the network is better than it would be for a purely recreational facility.

FAQ

Where are the Kalamunda mountain bike trails? In Kalamunda National Park and the surrounding State Forest in the Perth Hills, about 40 minutes east of Perth CBD and 25 minutes from the airport. All trailheads are off Mundaring Weir Road; Calamunda Camel Farm is the easiest first stop.

How much does it cost to ride at Kalamunda? Trail access and parking are both free at all four DBCA-managed trailheads. The Steady Rack shuttle to Mt Gunjin on select Sundays costs around $40 for 10 uplifts or $60 for 20. Bike hire from Rock and Roll Mountain Biking at the Camel Farm is around $60 per day.

Is Kalamunda suitable for beginner mountain bikers? Yes — 6 km of green singletrack and the Shake, Rattle 'n' Roll skills loop at Black Stump make it accessible. Follow the waymarked beginner circuit on your first visit and stay off the Mt Gunjin black-diamond descents until you're confident on loose laterite. The Camel Farm café at the end is a reasonable reward for a first ride.

How long is the Kalamunda Circuit? The original Kalamunda Circuit, the seed loop from 2011, is roughly 12 km linking the Camel Farm, Dell, and Farrell Grove trailheads. Other waymarked loops run from about 5 km up to longer combinations stitching multiple zones together. Most experienced riders end up building their own routes using the network's junction signs.

Can you ride Kalamunda in winter? Yes, and it can be the best time. The one-way trail system is partly designed for wet-weather resilience. Check the KMBC social channels for any temporary closures, bring mudguards, and accept that the climbs will be muddier than autumn — but the descents after rain are worth it.

Are some trails currently closed? As of August 2026, yes — sections near Mt Gunjin are affected by the $3M upgrade construction. The KMBC website and Instagram carry current closure notices and redirect information. Expect some changes through to 2027 as stages complete.

Plan the ride

For most Perth riders, Kalamunda is the default answer to "where are we riding Saturday?" That's earned over fifteen years of volunteer trail-building, a manageable drive from the CBD, and a network that covers enough ground that you don't exhaust it in a season. The shuttle Sundays make the Gunjin gravity trails accessible in a way that pure XC climbing never really delivers. And the upgrade, when it lands, will push the whole network into a different tier.

Browse every trail on the Kalamunda park page, compare it against the rest of the state on the Western Australia trails page or the WA map view. If you're planning a Perth riding trip, our top MTB parks in WA guide puts Kalamunda in context alongside the rest of the state's network, and the Perth MTB weekend guide covers the logistics of building a full long-weekend around it.