Our Story
In the right place
For the right reasons
With the right systems and processes
Connecting people to nature through trails
Trails change things. They open landscapes, draw visitors to regional communities, create economic opportunity, and give people a reason to get outside. When they’re well-conceived, well-built and well-managed, they become some of the most valuable assets a community has.
But trails are only as good as the systems and thinking behind them.
At Blue Sky Trails, we work with land managers, councils, clubs and community organisations across Australia to plan, build and sustain recreational trails that deliver real, lasting value for the people who use them, the communities they serve, and the environments they move through.
Craig Meinicke
Director & Founder
Craig is a nationally recognised specialist in sustainable trail governance, design and lifecycle management. He founded Blue Sky Trails to bridge a gap he kept seeing, trail networks being built without the frameworks to sustain them. Today he leads a team delivering complex projects across Australia, from feasibility studies and master planning through to audits, training and stakeholder facilitation.
Craig contributed to the working group that developed the Australian Mountain Bike Trail Guidelines and has served on the AusCycling State Advisory Council, and the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Advisory Panel. He works regularly with National Parks and councils across Australia, bringing to every engagement what land managers need most: independent, evidence-based advice, practical recommendations, and outcomes they can defend.
When he’s not on a trail professionally, he’s on one personally.
Denise Cox
Trails Champion
Denise brings a rare combination to the team with executive-level leadership experience in national and state sporting organisations, grounded in a genuine hands-on understanding of how trails are built, managed and sustained.
As Advocacy and Infrastructure Manager at AusCycling and previously COO and Company Secretary at Mountain Biking Australia, she shaped infrastructure policy at a national level. She has also served as Vice President on the board of Outdoors Queensland. Denise understands trail projects from both sides of the table, what land managers need to see, and what it actually takes to deliver on the ground.
Ben Thomas
Trail Development Consultant
Ben understands councils. With more than 15 years in the public sector delivering trail audits, feasibility assessments and operational management frameworks, he knows how local government thinks and what it takes to get a trail project across the line from the inside.
At Blue Sky Trails, Ben leads trail auditing programs and manages complex delivery projects across Queensland and New South Wales, acting as the client’s representative throughout, ensuring what gets built reflects what was promised and what the community needs. The goal is always the same: trails that work, managed by people who feel confident they know what they’re doing.
Ash Gray
Trails Champion
Ash is equally at home in the bush conducting a trail audit as he is leading a room through a complex strategic conversation. With a Bachelor of Physical Education and a Graduate Certificate in GIS and Remote Sensing, he specialises in mapping and documenting trail networks, delivering precise route validation, environmental overlays and maintenance prioritisation.
He works alongside Craig and Ben in the project management and delivery space, ensuring what lands on the ground reflects the vision the client started with. A former schoolteacher and volunteer board member with Alpine Community Plantation Inc, Ash might be 6 foot 4” but he brings even more to the table!
Rowan Lamont
Trail Partner
Rowan is often the first person a client talks to at Blue Sky Trails and that’s no accident. He has a natural ability to listen to a challenge, understand what’s being asked, and connect it to a solution the team can deliver. It’s a skill that sits at the intersection of business strategy, design thinking and deep sector knowledge.
With a background in industrial design and accreditation as a Strategyzer Business Innovation Coach, Rowan brings a different kind of thinking to the trails industry. He doesn’t just understand trail projects; he understands the communities, economies and businesses that trail projects make possible. A regular speaker at industry conferences and forums, and a member of the NSW MTB Advisory Committee, Rowan connects the dots and designs the steps between challenge and solution.
Needless to say when we are not delivering exceptional trail experiences, we are out experiencing trails ourselves. Whilst our roots are in mountain biking we all enjoy connecting to nature, walking, riding, or hiking!
We are a Business for Good
We recognise that trails are more than just a connection to nature, they are a pathway to wellbeing, resilience and transformation.
That’s why we dedicate a percentage of our revenue to Trek2Health, an organisation using evidence-based, trail programs to improve mental health outcomes for frontline workers facing tough challenges.
Many of our team also volunteer with local trail care groups in their own time. Because for us, this was never just a job.
Many of our staff choose to give in their own way volunteering into trail care groups helping to maintain and sustain their local trail networks.