Took a ride on this trail during early Spring last year. This was the first off-road ride I've been on and I enjoyed it. I must say I was scared at the really steep downhills and did some awsome skids at some downhill turns.
I didn't go on the single trail because I just would've got in everyone's way, but I was told that was lots of fun to do.
This track is definitely perfect for a beginner. Even a couple in their late 40s did the ride, and the wife did the ride with her slicks on.
It's definitely a ride you'd want to take your mates on.
I rode this track at the beginning of this year (2009) and loved the way you had all this great downhill, all of which didn't have to be ridden back up. The uphills were perfect in amount for me: Enough so I could challenge myself and have a good day's fitness, but not so many that they became a big drag. I intend to go on it early next year, because I just remember the joy of zooming down the bit after the helipad at 50km/h, as well as the fun singletrack with a PERFECT gradient. I strongly recommend to ride this track because you can't POSSIBLY have a bad time on it.
I did the ride for the first time from Woodford to Glenbrook on the October Long Weekend. It's a great ride except for stacking it big time going downhill. I strongly recommend for beginners to start from Woodford end. The hills are at the start of the ride, but once over them it's fantastic. Also suggest you take the single trail, it's fast and great fun.
Rode this trail with a friend. Neither of us are fit and the first trail we have been on. The first 12ks are up and down. We walked up 40 to 50 % of the 6 hills. Then we reached the heli pad & had a 15 min break. The next 7 or 8ks are fast down hill... lots of fun, then fast single track for 4 or 5ks. The last section is tar road down to the weir, with a tough walk out for the unfit. We watched people ride out of the weir but they took so many breaks that we beat them out on foot. All up it was the best time I have had in ages. I love this track: clean air, beautiful views,.. plus I just ordered a Giant Anthem X1 just for this track.
I have done the oaks a few times over the years. Approx 15 years ago was the first time, with a hard tail and hard front...a tough ride on the corrugations !!..A great day out with a bunch of mates, plenty of laughs, normally a few stacks... Haven't ridden since it was regraded, and the more I think about it, long overdue for a visit... Have ridden this track with Mr Vringer, whose comments apppear below...
Rode "The Oaks" for the first time since it was graded. Although it has lost a lot of its more technical merits, it is still a great ride and for experienced riders, it is a good place to sharpen up those high speed cornering skills. The single track is fortunately unchanged, and is one of the best "fast" single tracks around. But I don't appreciate meeting other riders coming up the track... very dangerous. Common sense would be for this to be only a one-way section.
Did the Oaks for the first time on Sunday. Great ride, the uphills aren't too long and the down hill and single track are great. Only down sides were a red belly sunning itself (won't go alone next time) and a burst tube. Will definitely do it again soon.
I take mates for rides on the Oaks Trail as often as I can. It's a great tester for any level of Mt Biker to see just where their Mt Bike Skills are. I have taken 12-16 year olds up to 50 year olds along the trail. You can go hard and do it in 1.5hrs and say you're fit, or you can take 3 hours with some friends and enjoy the scenery. Fit riders can go up and down the hills while the 'not so' fit riders make their way up.
There are only 3 main hills along the first half of the ride (not including the road ride out from the weir at the end). I like to break it up to three sections. 1 is the ups and downs for the first 45 mins. 2 is the gradual descent from the heli pad (1st one) where you can up your speed to 60km if you want till you get to the gate. 3 is the singletrack from the gate down to the weir. Push 30km/h through here and you will feel like you're in a computer game.
All in all, you can make any skill level fun as long as you ride with some good mates.
We loved this trail. We parked the car at Glenbrook and caught the train to Woodford (train leaves every hour around 20 past the hour). Admittedly, the first 8Km was a mixture of up and downhill, although being at the begining of the ride it isn't too bad as you still have plenty of energy. Still, this part was challengeing and I had to get off a few times and walk the bike up the hills (I'm not that fit!). This first part was quite open and I recommend to bring sunscreen and plenty of water especially in summer. The track really does vary from slightly sandy (some turns are a bit hairy due to the sand), to clay and gravel and rocky, although this track is much less rocky than some other blue mountain tracks which makes it much more enjoyable. The middle 18 or so Km are mostly downhill, with more cover as you venture under the canopy. The temperature drops a few degrees here which is refreshingly pleasant. This was the most fun I've had mtn biking in the blue mountains, as some of the other tracks are too long/challenging for the unfit such as myself. Having ridden the track now, I agree that around 80% of the track is downhill and I have no idea why anyone would want to ride it in the other direction! The last 2Km or so is sealed (and shared) road, with a really fun downhill section with great tour-de-france-like corners although the last 1Km is a huge uphill climb which most people would just get off and push. Overall, this is a FANTASTIC ride. Although on paper 28km may seem too long for some people, since most of it is downhill it only takes aprox 2.5-3hrs from the start at woodford to the car at glenbrook and that's taking it fairly easy on the uphills and flying down the downhills. I would definitely recommend this track!
Did the Oaks for the the first time in a while and the first 4k's have had sand laid down on the track. Careful coming down some of the steep downhills. We had a 1st timer and he was a lot slower in this part but no injuries.
Going from Woodford down to Glenbrook is the norm in my view. It's a great trail offering a mix of rough and smooth firetrail and singletrack.
Some sections are steep (both up & down) so it's not suitable for anyone who is not fit. I suggest doing the "Grose Point" track if looking at your first ride.
On a Saturday morning there are usually 5 or more riders waiting at Glenbrook station for the train (each hour) up to Woodford.
I have been mountain biking for what feels like decades and have done this trail many, many times. It's a blast and is easy if you take your time and don't try and rush through it... its easy to burn yourself out in the first half for beginners. The single track at the end is great! I used to drive to Glenbrook and train it up to Woodford only doing the track in one direction. Give it a shot!
The Oaks is listed as a beginners ride. But I would disagree. It applies only if you are a very fit young person who is used to doing some form of vigorous physical activity. The first time I rode this trail I vowed I would never mountain bike again. Thats because I was taken on a ride which was out of my abilities. It was too long for me, it was an extremely hot day and I didn't take enough water. I have since ridden the Oaks twice more and loved it. The difference was I had built up my skills and fitness. I introduced a female friend to mountain biking and built her confidence on smaller rides that got longer and a little more technical. When we rode the Oaks together she loved it. Thats the way to introduce someone to the sport without overcooking them, tiring them out and leaving them hating it.
The Oaks is a classic ride in the Blue Mountains. It's about 27km one way, including the climb out of "The Gorge" to the train station, but is not overly difficult.
I've always ridden it in the slightly more downhill direction, from Woodford to Glenbrook by parking the car at Glenbrook and getting the train to Woodford
Get off at Woodford station, walk down the stairs, turn left and walk up the stairs. At the top of the stairs turn left and ride along the street. Turn right at the end, then left, then left again. You'll see the gate to the start of the track on your right. It's about a 5 minute ride from the station so if those directions aren't good enough you can't get too lost at least!
The Oaks Firetrail is pretty easy. There are only about 5 climbs and they aren't too bad if you're happy to chuck it in the granny ring and grind up slowly. I'm definitely not the best climber and I can make it up all of them pretty easy, but still need a rest (or what I like to call a "cool down period") at the top. Some of the downhills are a little bit rough, with some rutts and babies heads to negotiate, but if you are on the track you're bike should have brakes so use them accordingly, lean back over the rear wheel and keep your arms and legs loose to soak up the bumps. There aren't always too many times you can go around because sometimes there is a cliff face dropping off one side the a wall on the other side of the trail!
After about 16km of fireroad and at the top of the last climb there's an open area that is actually a helipad I think. Most people when they reach this spot ask why they are doing this to themselves? The answer is coming! It's a great spot to have a breather, and you'll need it.
From this point the fireroad heads downhill...for 5km. It's great. It's not challenging and there is one little flat section at the beginning of the downhill, but it is heaps of fun. Pedalling as fast as you can for 5km does get tiring, so make sure that rest up the top was a good one. The downhill section isn't too twisty, but there are some corners. The trick to making it a bit harder for yourself is to try not to slow down. It is an unsealed surface so you might slide around a little bit, just do it at a comfortable pace.
There is a gate at the end of the downhill section with an opening for cyclists just on the left to ride through. Once through the gate/fence, grab a seat on the log there and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. That's the best thing about being the fastest in your group, you get the longest rest! So the moral of the story is, always ride with people slower than you!
The best part of the ride is just ahead, but so is the worst unfortunately. From the gate follow the singletrack around to the left. The singletrack section of The Oaks is slightly downhill, weaving between trees and lots of fun. It's not so narrow that your handlebars will hit anything going past but it is narrow enough that if you hit a corner too fast you'll go bush! There is about 4-5km of singletrack before reaching "The Gorge". The end of the singletrack becomes less of the surfing/flowing type and is a bit more techical, slower and difficult, but you can see the sealed road leading down to The Gorge just before it gets hard and you also have to jump two logs running perpendicular to the singletrack to hit the harder section. If you don't think you can do the technical stuff just get onto the road and follow it down. I really like the technical stuff and the last few times I've cleared every section!
The technical singletrack ends at a switchback of sealed road that is also used as a parking area. Ride down the sealed road to the causeway and then start the climb out of "The Gorge".
The climb out is really hard, mainly because of the steepness of the hairpin turns. I've climbed all the way out twice and that was in a 1/1 gear combo spinning reasonably fast while moving at about 4km/hr. Very steep. I've heard stories of one guy riding up on his cyclocross bike with two flat tyres and another story of a guy riding it in the middle ring and towing another rider up. Insane stuff.
From the top of The Gorge it's about 1.5km through the streets of Glenbrook back to the station/car.
This is a fantastic ride and everyone that I've taken on it has enjoyed it. Ride times vary. It took about 4 hours to ride with my dad who needed regular cigarette breaks at the top of every climb but most rides average out at about 2 hours riding time for myself and whoever I do the ride with. I just rode this trail again on the 12th of July with my Dad and a mate. They both did it pretty easy and I was okay too considering I've just gotten over the flu. My Dad did it on a cheapie KMart full-suspension bike. By the end of the ride he had a big dent in the frame, the forks were leaking whatever fluid they had in them and, the rear brake was completely glazed, the front brake had heated up so much the disc went that nice deep purple colour and the headset (steering) had worked loose. If that's not a good argument for riding decent gear then i don't know what is. The final section of singletrack has two logs running perpendicular to the trail. You have to jump these or go off to the right and ride down the sealed road. This final section is really rough and eroded from the recent rains so be careful if you aren't super confident on a bike and choose to ride this section.
If it has been raining it's probably also a good idea to check the NPWS website and see if Glenbrook Gorge/Causeway is actually open, otherwise it'll be a nice ride back the way you came, mostly uphill!
I did the 2007 Careflight Woodford to Glenbrook race.
It's a trail of two sections. The first 14kms to the helicopter landing pad are pretty challenging. I had to walk some hills.
The bottom section of 10kms past the helicopter landing pad is a real blast. As it was a race, everyone took the fire trail rather than the single track. You can do 40kmh nearly all the way to the bottom and because it was an organised race you don't need to worry about the vehicles coming up the trail on the blind corners. Well almost. I encountered one but managed to avoid a collision.
If you want the exercise then ride up from Glenbrook to Woodford.
If you want the thrill, take the train to Woodford and ride down to Glenbrook.
Top trail. Great fast and flowing single track off the main fire road. Some big climbs coming from Woodford direction but the downhills, views and single track are more than a reward for your hard work. Be sure to bring a bike tool,spare tubes (and plenty of water in those bladders & some snacks) as the track can be a bike breaker. I've trashed the odd rear derailleur and chain on this ride, but enjoy... it's a blast.
