A public forum on the proposed mountain bike park on top of the mountain on Thursday night was told an archaeologist and biodiversity expert were also working on the plan.

About 160 people attended the forum at the Orange Civic Theatre.

Trail designer Jason Lam from the company Dirt Art told the meeting it was a "really fantastic project" to be involved in.

"The next stage will be on site on the mountain," he said.

That would involve mapping out possible routes.

Mr Lam said the tracks were planned to vary from 450 millimetres to 900 millimetres wide.

He said Mount Canobolas was potentially suitable as it offered mountain bike riders the ability to make long descents, which was popular at the moment.

In a 35-minute question time several people in the audience questioned why Mount Canobolas had been chosen over other sites around Orange that had less environmentally sensitive concerns.

Others asked about the impact on flora, fauna and bushwalkers.

Emily Cotterill, the director of The Environmental Factor, is assessing the impact the trails would have on the biodiversity of the mountain as part of an environmental study being paid for by Orange City Council.

Ms Cotterill said she had identified several 'no-go zone' areas on the mountain where the trails could not be placed.

She said there was also other sensitive areas where the trail designers would have to show would not be damaged by placing the trails there.

Ms Cotterill said her company would be "fleas in the ears" of the track designers to ensure the mountain diversity was not harmed.

"We are definitely considering the native fauna on the mountain as part of this," she said.

"There are also a lot of pests up there.

"Our impact assessment is yet to happen."

She said she was aware of the sensitive nature of the mountain.

"We're doing our best to assess it objectively," she said.

Leigh Bate, who runs Apex Archaeology, said he was assessing the mountain for Indigenous and heritage sites.

"We want to avoid all the Aboriginal cultural heritage, the known sites, that are on Mount Canobolas," he said.

Mr Bate said they were also looking for any other heritage sites.

He said they were about half-way through the process.

Council CEO David Waddell said the final decision on whether to go ahead with the mountain bike park would rest with the state government or an independent planning panel, and not the council.

He said the bike park had the potential to create an economic cost benefit three times the expenditure.

Mr Waddell said it was proposed "world class" mountain bike trails would be built.

And he said it was expected bike paths to the mountain and Lake Canobolas from Orange would be built.

Mr Waddell said he also expected new businesses, including those providing shuttles to bring riders and their bikes to the bottom and top of the mountain from Orange would be started.

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