There is one ride that comes to me in my sleep, and it's Jacob's Ladder in Tasmania. The only thing is, I'm not sure if I'm dreaming about it or having nightmares.

Jacob's Ladder is one of the toughest gravel climbs in the world, as well as one of the most dramatically beautiful places to ride, and it's right here in our back garden.

In anticipation of getting down there myself, I have put together this introduction for our readers at CycleHub.

A Brutal Grey Massif

The massif of Ben Lomond is visible from Launceston, and it looks beautiful from there.

Up close, however, is a different story. In the photos, it looks brutal, scary, raw, and steep. The worst (or best) part is near the top, just before you reach the plateau.

The route maps show that you make your approach on your bike via Blessington Road C401, then turn off the paved surface and onto the gravel when you see the Ben Lomond National Park sign. From here, the 17-kilometre, 1,000-metre climb begins.

One veteran rider warned me not to be overconfident because the first 9.4 kilometres are relatively easy, with an average slope of 6.5%. Soon, you pass the ranger checkpoint, and the trees will begin to thin out. Emerging from behind them looms a steep, grey wall.

This is where the 1.5 kilometres of famous Jacob's Ladder switchbacks are. With an average gradient of 12.6%, it is one of the most iconic and challenging bits of trail in Australia. They say the surface is rough and loose but ridable. The photos look amazing.

It's Old Country

The rock walls all around you as you climb those final hairpin turns are a few hundred million years old. The dolerite derives from lava that dried in place back in the Jurassic period.

Here's an even cooler fact. During the last ice age, a small ice cap sat on top of the plateau, which is the only glaciated tableland in Tasmania's whole north-east. Every boulder was pushed there by that glacier, many years ago.

While Ben Lomond is quintessentially Tassie, it is actually named after a mountain back in the UK. Colonel William Paterson, who founded the first European settlement in north Tasmania in 1804, named it after Ben ('mountain' in Gaelic) Lomond ('beacon') back in Scotland.

Wikipedia tells me that the mountain already had a name, long before Paterson turned up. The Palawa people called it Turapina, with that “pina” ending roughly meaning tableland.

The road with the switchbacks was carved in the early 1960s. Until then, skiers who wanted to get to the plateau would park their cars at the bottom and walk two kilometres uphill, with their skis, boots, and supplies on their backs.

The Jacob's Ladder road we ride today doesn't follow the path those skiers walked up, even though it's a gentler climb. The road builders deliberately chose the steepest route because it faced north and would naturally shed snow and ice in the warm sun.

The ABC published a great story about the road back in 2022.

The KOM of Jacob's Ladder

There used to be a gravel race up Jacob's Ladder every February, but it looks like it hasn't run since 2025. Called the King and Queen of the Mountain, it was open to road, MTB, gravel, and e-bikes alike. The race finished at the ski village after the six hairpins.

And who can forget Richie Porte, a local bloke from Launceston who became a pro cyclist and made the Tour de France podium? The story goes that he always wore a Tasmania necklace while racing in Europe.

Richie became Strava KOM on Jacob's Ladder in February of 2024, and no one has been able to beat his time since. He did the Strava route in 43:28, at an average of 21.3 kilometres per hour. The second-placed all-time finisher on Strava is Josh Bloody Wilson, who did the climb about six minutes slower. You can see the Strava route here if you're a member.

Advice from Experienced Riders

Having never ridden Jacob's Ladder, I have searched the internet for advice from those who have. Two of the best accounts are here and here.

Their tips come down to these four bullets:

• Bike and tyres: You can do it on a road bike, but you'll be happier on a gravel bike. Descending safely is much harder on a road bike, and many riders have lost some skin. A hardtail MTB will also work well. And most suggest at least 32 to 40mm of rubber with a bit of tread on it, rather than slicks.
• Gearing: You're looking at roughly 15 to 18 kilometres of climbing that averages 6% to 8%. The final hairpin stretch jumps up to 13% on a loose surface. So, you will want a compact or sub-compact crank with a wide-range cassette. You don't want to have to stand to get power, because that can cause your rear tyre to slip.
• Brakes: Leave the old rim brake bike at home. I'm sure she's a beauty, but you want disc brakes on this descent.
• Clothing: Ben Lomond is Alpine territory, and the weather can vary between the lower and higher elevations. You might be sweating on the lower slopes and then get hit with wind and cold at the top. The road is subject to ice and snow from June through September, so summer and the shoulder seasons are the best times of year to try it.

If you fancy it, Mountain Bike Tasmania offers a three- to four-hour tour, with bikes included. They start you at the Ski Village, then take you down Jacob's Ladder and then into some single-track and 4WD tracks in the eucalypt forests.