Taylors Break

I’ve ridden Taylors Break in D’Aguilar National Park a couple of times. My friend Rob kindly organized another ride here, so I jumped at the chance to check it out again.

I met with Paul, Aaron and Rob at the bottom of the Goat Track, and we rode up to the start of this fun descent near the corner Hammermeister Road and Forestry Road at Mount Nebo.

The track starts with a gentle gradient near Mount Nebo. A bulldozer has cleared it recently, so the ride near the top of the hill is quite pleasant.

The steepness increases as you get further down the mountain…

Towards the bottom, the gradient is very intense, and there are lots of loose rocks, so it’s advisable to walk it if you’re not 100% confident. Rob showed us how you can “get air” even when you’re walking the bike 🙂

You can ride the descent if you keep your wits about you, and get your weight as far back on the bike as possible.

The prettiest part of the ride is Branch Creek at the bottom of the descent. The shaded pools would make a great swimming spot in summer – but today we were content to enjoy the view and take pictures.

We also decided to have a bit of a break because this point was the start of the long climb up Cabbage Tree Range Road – a one hour uphill ride which rises about 500 metres in 7km.

This ride was 27km long, and we completed it in about three and a half hours. We did about 1,200m of vertical ascent and I burned about 2,500 kcal. Despite the relatively short distance, it’s still a challenging and enjoyable ride. I’m rating 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. We enjoyed it more because it was a cool day, we kept an easy pace, and stopped lots.

If you do this ride, take it easy at the bottom of Taylors Break. It’s very steep and loose. If you’re unsure of a section, play it safe and walk it.