Police are appealing for witnesses after a cyclist was allegedly surrounded, assaulted and robbed by a group of masked youths on the Fernleigh Track on Saturday morning.

Lake Macquarie police were called to the shared pathway just south of Burwood Road on Saturday, August 29, after a 52-year-old man reported he had been riding along the track when a group of youths blocked his path.

Police said the group, believed to be aged between 13 and 17, were wearing black jumpers and hoods and black beanies, with their faces covered. They had a black electric scooter and a black fat-tyred electric bicycle with them.

The man told police he was assaulted, knocked from his bicycle and threatened before he was able to get away. His phone was lost during the incident.

Police want to speak to five youths in connection with the alleged assault.

The incident is the latest in a series of reports involving groups of young people on the 15-kilometre Newcastle–Lake Macquarie pathway. In July last year a cyclist was hospitalised after a group of youths threw rocks at him near Redhead, and NSW Police subsequently launched a high-visibility patrol strategy covering the track and its Adamstown and Belmont entrances.

Earlier this year Hunter Highway Command's Chief Inspector Tom Barnes said police were aware of incidents on the track and were targeting the area, warning that intimidating other users "amounts to assault".

Anyone with information or dashcam, helmet-cam or mobile footage from the area on Saturday morning is urged to contact Lake Macquarie Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.