Mount Portal Lookout (Glenbrook)

[peter]

I was looking for gravel roads on Google Map, it seems the trails leading to Mount Portal Lookout (Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains) maybe suitable.

I plan to park at Red Hands Cave Track Car Park, then ride The Oaks Trail > Euroka Road > Mount Portal Trail all the way to the lookout, it's about 10km round trip. May even detour to Tunnel View Lookout, only a few hundred metres.

I was wondering is this something a gravel bike can handle? Nothing too extreme requiring a proper mountain bike?

[march83]

I ride the Glenbrook trails on my gravel bike regularly. The main firetrails are all gravel bike friendly. It can get a bit sketchy when you're going 40km/h+ through the rough sections, but you just need to wash off a bit of speed to feel safe.

The road up to Mt Portal has a horrible pinch of a climb that you may need to walk if you're not strong, and you'll need to be a little careful on the way back down - it's a little loose and sketchy, but nothing a bit of braking won't fix.

There are a few rough bits of doubletrack and singletrack around the place (none of the trails you suggested) which can be ridden on a gravel bike but aren't really that much fun so I save the mountain bike for those.

[peter]

Thanks for the insights, if not much rain over the coming days, will check it out this Sunday.

[march83]

No worries. The firetrails drain well so it should be fine from today until the heavy rain hits on sunday (so long as you don't mind getting a little sandy).