This trail is approximately 27 kilometres long and explores some of St Helens' back country, that until now was a secret spot known only to the locals.

There is no doubt that the calibre of this trail will draw people from all over the planet to experience, once the borders open of course!

The trail starts up on the Loila Tier where the rest of the St Helens MTB descents start, it then traverses ridgelines and gullies of iron bark forest.

There are some fun downhill sections but there is also some uphill so riders will need to go prepared.

The scenery is amazing and for the adventurous, you will also find some incredible swimming holes, that's where the name the Dreaming Pools comes from.

You will want to take a few moments here to enjoy the bliss; this trail is as much about enjoying the moment and your surroundings as it is about riding.

On the same day, we also launched a climb trail called Garnup.

Riders have been asking for a climb to Loila and we delivered but it's certainly not for the faint-hearted.

Garnup is a six-kilometre climb that starts off at Wedged In (so add a few more kilometres) and winds its way up Flagstaff Hill until you reach Loila Tier.

There are a couple of places though where you can pull out and head back down (See ya Later) or take one of the link trails over to Icarus if you run out of steam.

When I look back at where we have come from, I must say how proud I am to be the mayor of this amazing community who has embraced the mountain bike trails project and understand its importance to our region.

Thinking back to what our community was like before we opened the network, we kept saying that this project would have great benefits for our town and community, but I don't think we would have believed the numbers of people that are coming to our town to enjoy them.

After losing a large chunk of our busy season visitation to the coast with the pandemic, the trails have continued to bring Tasmanians to the network which has provided our businesses with a boost that for some will now tide them over to the summer.

When I head up to the trailhead I see whole families of mountain bikers from little tackers to mum and dad heading off to hit their favourite trails.

You will also see the experienced riders heading off on the shuttles and coming back into the trailhead all smiles and adrenaline.

The atmosphere up there is all excitement and during these difficult times, witnessing this joy is a real ray of sunshine.

Where to from here?

This is something we are always thinking about and we are exploring opportunities for more trails for both bikes and walkers.

This includes projects like a pedestrian/cycle track from Binalong Bay to St Helens and even from Swimcart Beach to St Helens.

It's all just dreams at the moment, but not so long ago so were the mountain bike tracks.

Here in Break O'Day we understand that we need to look after all of our community and we also want our community to grow.

We need to give people a good reason to come to our area and stay.

Projects like this create jobs and this in turn creates more investment in our area.

This doesn't just mean developments, it also draws service providers to our region.

As a municipality that is the fifth-most tourism reliant municipality in Australia, we will not be resting on our laurels as the way forward for all of us is to be positive and proactive in our quest.

This way we will be able to provide jobs for our children keeping them in our area as well as giving families a reason to move to our municipality.

So when I look back to where we have come from, it really has been an amazing journey but I still believe the best is yet to come.

When we come out of COVID-19 restrictions, it will be a new tomorrow for us all and we will once again welcome interstate and international visitors to our region.

I would urge people in business to start making sure you are ready for them because no doubt they will be just as excited to be here as we are to have them here, and they will want to see and experience it all.