22/09/2026
Well, this is incredibly disappointing.
After almost two years of discussion about finding a new, sustainable management model for Fox Creek Bike Park — and months of being told that Bike SA was working towards taking over management — we're apparently back where we started, with ForestrySA continuing to manage the park.
Escapegoat has been involved at Fox Creek for nearly 10 years, so we've lived through a lot of this history rather than watched it from the sidelines.
After the 2019 fires we genuinely believed Fox Creek had an exciting future. We committed significant money ourselves, entered into a government grant agreement, bought a dedicated shuttle vehicle and trailer, invested in bikes and equipment, operated the kiosk when asked to, and continued running shuttle services through years of uncertainty.
The assumptions we made when committing to that investment changed dramatically. Major plans and funding for Fox changed, the kiosk proved financially unsustainable, and operators and volunteers have spent years trying to work within an increasingly uncertain environment.
Then came another lengthy process to find a new management model.
We participated. We provided feedback. We waited. We were told Bike SA was progressing towards taking over management. As recently as June, Bike SA told us they intended to continue our existing shuttle arrangement while their agreement with Forestry was being finalised.
And now, after all that time, the proposed transition isn't happening and ForestrySA will continue managing Fox Creek.
That is enormously frustrating.
Fox Creek is an extraordinary mountain bike park with an amazing riding community, passionate volunteers and enormous potential. It deserves a clear, properly funded, long-term vision — not another cycle of reviews, consultations, negotiations and uncertainty.
I genuinely hope ForestrySA's newly announced approach succeeds. Recruiting someone specifically to coordinate trails and volunteers and committing to maintenance are positive steps.
But after everything that has happened, I think the mountain bike community deserves a proper explanation of what happened to the proposed new management model, why the Bike SA arrangement didn't proceed, what was learned from the process, and what the long-term plan for Fox Creek now actually is.
We've invested too much — as a business and as a riding community — to simply shrug and start again.
Fox Creek deserves better than another reset.
Update on the trail management at Fox!
ForestrySA will continue to directly manage Fox Creek, with a renewed program focused on trail safety and maintenance, responsible land management and keeping the park freely accessible to the community.
We thank Bike SA for their expertise, contribution and longstanding commitment to Fox Creek and the wider cycling community. While ForestrySA has chosen a different management approach, we respect Bike SA’s important and ongoing contribution to cycling in South Australia.
Over the next couple of days, we will begin recruitment for a Trail and Volunteer Program Coordinator. This dedicated role will provide a single point of coordination for recreational maintenance and planning at Fox Creek, working with Rangers, operations, volunteers, clubs and contractors to ensure priorities are coordinated, works are delivered safely and efficiently, and the park remains safe, serviceable and enjoyable for all users.
Also, over coming weeks, while the recruitment process is underway, ForestrySA will deliver a spring works program, including:
• Firebreak maintenance to support bushfire preparedness
• Vegetation and w**d management across the trail network
• Focused maintenance on high-use trails
• A community Fox Care Trail Day
Together with riders, clubs and volunteers, we look forward to delivering visible improvements and caring for Fox Creek Bike Park for the long term.
