New section of Mary to Bay Rail Trail officially opened

Posted on 26/08/23

8 comments on “New section of Mary to Bay Rail Trail officially opened”

Rode 500k on my 20" folder to be there and hopefully one day it will be normal to ride between Maryborough and Hervey Bay. Plenty of maps and information on the Facebook site. It is an adventure trail for the moment.

I was expecting to see a report on the local news on Monday evening (on 7) but there was no mention of the opening of the trail. Getting it out to the public via the news would spread the word of the trail and encourage more riders to experience it I thought.

We tried but apart from a very successful media event the week before there was no interest from media despite repeated contacts.

Missed it by one day ! Will have to come back next year. Well done to all the volunteers 👍

Having ridden the Mary to Bay RT yesterday morning (Saturday 28/8), I agree with the comments made by Colin about the need for a map and by Garry for better signage to get around the Pialba shopping precinct. Having reached the end of the paved trail at Nukembah (near the main road to Maryborough, though I didn't realise that at the time) there was no signage to indicate that there were other sections of the trail that could be ridden further on, starting on Piggford Lane. The only sign was a red arrow with "Fraser Coast BUG" that didn't tell me anything useful. Later, I checked the FCBUG website & found that they were opening the new Takura section that very day. So my wife Toni & I drove out to the Takura Trailhead, but at first found it difficult to locate as the "Fraser Coast BUG" direction sign on Dundowran Rd caused us to drive down Leos Rd, missing the Takura Trailhead that we later found was only about 40m away, parallel to Leos Rd ! So there's a need for a sign to point to where the Takura section starts & the facilities there. Anyway, we're very glad to see that the opening of the new Takura section went so well. We're much better informed now about the RT route when we return to ride it on another holiday.

A map of the area would be a good idea to orientate readers of the location.

I agree with Colin, an up to date paper map, readily available, would be great.
It can also be difficult navigating through the Pialba shopping precinct; signposts around that area would also be helpful.
I was surprised that so few tourist and accommodation facilities in the area had any useful knowledge of the cycling facilities available in the bay. Strava has cycling “segments” in the routes.
Cycling facilities are one of the main influences that bring us back to Hervey Bay!

When in Facebook next look for the Mary To Bay Trail Trail Discussion page. In the "files" at the top there is a complete map which give considerable detail on a laptop screen (or even tablet) when zoomed in and there are also smaller maps cut up from this which work well on a phone. And the bigger map prints up well at A1 or even A2 if you take it to a printer There was no professional mapping planned earlier because we knew we would be opening 11 klms before long which would render any maps obsolete. We will print maps/ brochures now as soon as we can find the necessary grant funding.