If you have spent much time perusing CyclingGravel you would likely know that beer is my beverage of choice. And, blessedly, Canberra has three fantastic breweries that you can visit to obtain said thirst-quencher. Even better: each is easily visited by bicycle.
With this in mind CyclingGravel has turned attention to publishing a gravel route that takes in Canberra’s finest ale and lager. What could be better? This is a significantly different route to the CyclingGravel Epic Canberra Gravel Trail, so even if you are not into beer it offers another way to explore Canberra off-road – this time with two-thirds gravel. While not overly challenging the route is definitely not champagne gravel – it has some steep bits, some single track, and some very short off-piste connections. Think of it more as beer gravel…..
Summary of the route
Braddon – Gungahlin
You have to start somewhere, so why not at Bentspoke in Braddon? Warm up (maybe over lunch) before heading off. And a warm up is needed as climbing up through Turner to Black Mountain involves a short punchy hill. Through an underpass the gravel starts with the single track beside Frith Road – this is part of the Centenary Trail.
At the end of the single track you arrive at a fence. Veer left – there is a convenient path through to the track on the other side which avoids having to put your bike over a gate. From here the trail steepens but thankfully what used to be a very loose trail has been nicely graded as you head towards Little Black Mountain (LBM). You can take a short cut staying on the Centenary Trail, but following the komoot around LBM offers some great views through the trees towards the city and lake.
Heading out from Black Mountain Nature Reserve you exit via a gravel carpark and need to cross Belconnen Way. It is pretty obvious where to cycle (slightly to the right down hill) to enter Bruce Ridge. Sticking mostly to the fire trail, the route ends with some of the single track that makes the Ridge a fun MTB explore. Fear not: this is smooth and easy to take on a gravel bike.
Heading off Bruce Ridge, despite the ‘fence’ it is easy to cycle across the C3 cycleway (watch for fast-moving cyclists) onto O’Conner Ridge. There are a number of routes through here and the following Lyneham Ridge – you can’t go too wrong if heading roughly NNE. The worst road crossing of the route is over Ginninderra Drive, where it is necessary (unless super skilled) to hike-a-bike up from the road to the Lyneham trails. Exiting Lyneham Ridge near Ellenborough Street you can avoid putting your bike over a gate by heading right for about 100m to the cavaletti (step-over log horse gate).
Once cycling behind Kaleen the trail is more single track and often used by horse riders (you pass horse paddocks on the right). The least formed trails are beside Moruya Circuit, but they are not too hard to follow to the well-formed trail beside the Barton Highway. From here look out for the track that allows a crossing of the highway to the back of Crace.
It would be great, instead of the shared path behind Crace, to continue off-road in Gungaderra Grasslands Nature Reserve – you can walk here, but no cycling. Bummer. Instead the route does follow some pretty nice suburban edge path until the back of Palmerston, after which sealed path returns as the means to arrive for a mid-point refreshment at Cypher Brewing Co. An added plus: if you’ve had enough here you and your bike can jump straight on the tram back to the city.
Gungahlin – Campbell
Heading out of Gungahlin it is necessary to ride some back streets but soon after the gravel returns! Similar to Horse Park Drive, Wells Station Road is named after a local property established in the 19th century. Unlike Horse Park Drive it is possible to cycle the Old Wells Station Road and the recent upgrade of the trail through Nadjung Mada Nature Reserve has made this a really great gravel route to connect through from Gungahlin to Watson & Mount Majura.
After a short soujourn on-road past the Canberra showgrounds, it is possible to easily cycle into the Watson woodlands and from there into the Mt Majura and Mt Ainslie Nature Parks – offering great trails behind the suburbs of Hackett, Ainslie and Campbell. These are some of my favourite Canberra gravel trails – for example check out Mt Ainslie loop. They are certainly good quality gravel for the main, and support a decent pace if you are so inclined – just be respectful of the fact that this part of the route tends to have the most pedestrians.
Finally it is definitely time for another beer, and heading under Fairbairn Avenue you can finish the gravel riding through Campbell before heading down to the excellent Lager House.
The breweries
It is fair to say that I have spent quite a bit of time at Capital, Bentspoke and Cypher. I really like each of them. You will no doubt have your own preferences, but in the interests of transparency here are my favourite things about each brewery.
Bentspoke
The Bentspoke Brewpub is in the heart of Braddon, making it an excellent place to have a brew before or after (or both) one of the great local restaurants. Having said that, I can highly recommend the excellent BentDog to go with your beverage of choice. I can never go past a hand-pumped Braddon Bitter, but I am also very partial to the excellent WCIPA Crankshaft.
Cypher
Cypher Brewing Co is the newest brewery on the Canberra scene and in my opinion at least as worthy of a visit as Bentspoke and Capital. Located conveniently at the end of the tramline with sunsoaked outdoor seating, the food is both really great and outstanding value for money (particularly the $20 burger and schooner deal on Thursdays). My favourite core range beer here is the Hivemind Hazy IPA, although recently the Local Joint Amber Lager has been competing for my attention.
Capital
Capital Brewing is my “local”. I most frequently visit the Dairy Road Taproom for a beer and some Brod, but a great new addition to Capital is the Campbell Lager House. Offering a great menu of food, the rotating lagers are great – I have loved the dark lager choices on offer during recent visits. And, if you aren’t into lager, I can recommend my go-to core range option of Rock Hopper WCIPA.
Note: If you’d prefer, it is possible to take the Lake Burley Griffen shared path out to the Capital Taproom. There is always a large range of seasonal beers on tap, and you can also get a canned Crowler (960ml) takeaway for any that particularly take your fancy.
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