The 10 Hardest Bike Climbs in Australia

Australia is one of the great cycling climbing countries.

A testament to the importance of cycling climbing in Australia is that most of its top climbs have Tour de France-like kilometer markers on them - something found in only a handful of countries, predominantly France and Italy.  We traveled to Australia in April, 2022 to document the Top 10 Australian Bike Climbs.

AUSTRALIA’S HARDEST BIKE CLIMB

MOUNT BAW BAW

Ride 12.3 kilometers gaining 960 meters at 7.8% average grade.

Mt. Baw Baw is the hardest bike climb in Australia.   The first 5.5 kilometers are a warm up at 4% average grade, while the next 6.2 km average 11.5%, before dropping down to 4% for the final 600 meters to the finish at the Mt. Baw Baw Alpine Resort.

SECOND HARDEST BIKE CLIMB IN AUSTRALIA

MT. WELLINGTON

Ride 17.6 km gaining 1,156 meters at 6.6% average grade.

This climb is on the Australian island state of Tasmania.  Tasmania is home to the first environmental political party in the world, and 42% of its land is protected land in some way.  This bicycle climb is almost entirely in Wellington Park (617 acres; established in 1993).  We begin the climb a short distance west of Hobart (pop. 229,000, the largest city and capitol of Tasmania; the smallest but second oldest Australian state capital).  

#3 AUSTRALIAN BIKE CLIMB

MT. DONNA BUANG 

Ride 16.8 kilometers gaining 1,069 meters at 6.4% average grade.

#4 AUSTRALIAN BIKE CLIMB

DARGO

Cycling Dargo

Ride 13 kilometers gaining 970 meters at 7.2%

Dargo is ranked the fourth most difficult bike climb in Australia behind only Mt. Baw Baw, Mt. Wellington and Mt. Donna Buang.  The climb has it’s steep section with the steepest kilometer at 12.2% beginning at kilometer 3.2

AUSTRALIA #5

MOUNT HOTHAM

Ride 29 kilometers gaining 1,370 meters at 4.5% average grade.

Another extraordinary must-do bike climb in Australia’s Victorian Alps along the Great Dividing Range, 350 kilometers northeast of Melbourne. Be prepared for a cool ride, particularly towards the top - Mount Hotham has never recorded a temperature above 30°C (86°F) and it is one of the few locations in Australia that records temperatures below freezing