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The Munda Biddi Trail is an off-road cycling track in Western Australia, and is the longest track of its kind in the world. The name ‘Munda Biddi’ is derived from the local Aboriginal language, translating to ‘path through the forest’. This unique path winds through some of the most beautiful sections of forest and bushland in Australia.
As a majority off-road trail it offers a mixture of dirt roads and singletrack, and very few sealed sectors in between. There are towns every 50-100km for accommodation, food and supplies, as well as lots of campsites along the trail.
My friend Campbell moved over to Western Australia this year for work, so this was the perfect excuse to complete this 1000km trail with him. Mutual friends Erin and SV (Curve Cycling) were able to get the time off for this bikepacking expedition too.
I decided to pack ultra-minimally into a set of bikepacking bags. My estimated gear weight was sub-10kg (22lbs). Along with the light kit, I thought I’d bring the fastest off-road capable bike I could think of – the Cannondale Slate adventure bike (review HERE).
Flying into Perth airport from the east coast of Australia, I was eager to see how the landscape was different some 3500km away from home. To give you an idea of scale, this is the same distance as crossing Europe (Madrid to Istanbul), or the USA (Florida to California).
Down the bottom of this page is some important trail advice. If you’re planning on doing this trail, please read it!
Munda Biddi Trail Stage 1: Mundaring to Collie 329km
Mundaring – Jarrahdale – Dwellingup – Yarri Shelter (3 Days)
Munda Biddi Trail Stage 2: Collie to Northcliffe 377km
Yarri Shelter – Donnybrook – Nunnup – Manjimup – Northcliffe (4 Days)
Munda Biddi Trail Stage 3: Northcliffe to Albany 354km
Northcliffe – Walpole – Jinung Beigabup Shelter – Albany (3 Days)
Completion and Final Thoughts
After finishing the Munda Biddi Trail, I jumped on a 6-hour TransWA bus back to Perth. The cost was $65 AUD and it was another $10 AUD for the bike. They didn’t mind the bike being fully assembled.
The Munda Biddi Trail is an incredible piece of cycling infrastructure. It is signposted really well, but not to the point where you can do it without mapping. The paper maps are great to study, and well worth the investment of about $100.
I wouldn’t recommend any bike other than a mountain bike for this ride. It’s possible to ride a bike with narrower than 2.0″ tyres – but it’s slower, less comfortable and simply not as enjoyable. Mountain bikes will give you the low climbing gears necessary for every section of the Munda Biddi Trail, and the fat tyres will give you the traction and stability on the rough sections.
I’d recommend packing light. The best way to do this trail is without a trailer, and ideally without panniers. Bikepacking bags are without doubt, the best in terms of bike handling on the rough and technical trail sections.
I was always pleasantly surprised by the state-of-the-art campsite huts located along the trail. You can ride hut to hut for the majority of the trail. You’ll find unfiltered water at each of the huts – I didn’t bother filtering the water; do this at your own risk. There’s accommodation available in almost all towns along the route too, but it’s best to book ahead if you can.
The Munda Biddi Trail is really hilly. It doesn’t look hilly on the map, but there’s some steep climbs littered throughout the trail. Be prepared!
GPS Maps. Some mostly accurate Munda Biddi Trail GPX files can be found HERE.
More Information? For detailed route information, head to the Munda Biddi Trail Foundation website.
I really don’t like MTB ergonomics. I’d have thought the Cannondale Slate would have been the perfect bike. It sounds like it wasn’t. Were you using the largest 650B’s it would take? What “drop-bar” setup can you suggest for trails such as this?
I used the widest, most grippy 650B tyres that would fit the Slate. However, this trail is better suited to 2.00″+. Lots of disc brake touring bikes nowadays can handle 29×2.0 tyres. There’s a few drop bar, off-road touring bikes which would handle this trail well, including: Bombtrack Beyond, Co-Motion Divide, Kona Sutra LTD Salsa Fargo and the Trek 920.
Hi. I’m planning on riding the MB in September. Do you think a regular Kona Sutra with 2.2 (front), 2.0 (rear) nobbies would be ok or should I bite the bullet a get a hardtail as well?
2.0-2.2″ will be fine. I’d recommend packing light for the rough terrain, however! Good luck.
My husband and I are planning to ride the MB in Oct. I see your article was written in Oct, but wonder when you rode the trail that you came into so much rain? My husband is 6’5″ and rides a 63cm bike. That seems really tall for some of those technical downhills. We are used to very tame touring, but a bike that tall and a rider that tall seems like an accident upcoming. Are there detours around the technically difficult areas? Doesn’t a bike that tall (long top and downtubes) seem like a big breaking hazard to you? We usually ride Surly LHT’s with 2 1/4″ tires. Also, did you fly your own bikes to the trail, or rent them? Thank you
– There was unseasonable rain in September when we did the trail; everyone assured us that this time of year is meant to be dry.
– I am 6’6″ and can tell you that tall riders fall the same amount as smaller riders! We have long arms and legs to step over and maneuver our big bikes. There’s nothing too technical on the trail that you couldn’t walk down.
– I rode from Perth Airport to the start of the trail, then put my bike under the bus for the way back from Albany. I bought a bike box at the Perth Airport when I arrived.