Te Ara o Rangituhi - The Rangituhi Trails
Riding on Rangituhi-Colonial Knob now features some high quality singletrail. So now it is worth the ride up for not only the amazing views but the trails too!
The best access point for these trails is the Raiha St gate. Trailforks.com is an amazing resource for navigation, which even has an app to help you when you are out on the bike too. Check out the list of our trails below and be sure to rate them on Trailforks after your ride. Climbing Trails Utiwai Rangituhi now boasts a singletrail climb to take you to the top of the park. Utiwai is like no other climb in the region, with beautiful native forest of varying age including Kohekohe, Miro, Tawa and a few regenerating Rimu. Utiwai is broken up into two sections, the lower section will one day have an easy grade descent down to Rangituhi Crescent and another trail from there back to the bottom of Utiwai. Note: Utiwai is a shared trail – two way for walking/running, one way up for riding. Descending Trails Blaster 14 berms in 472m, a trail like no other in the region. and as the name suggests, a real blast! Between the corners there are tables, and roll-able features, to ensure it is suitable for most riders as a grade three (intermediate) trail. Chimney Sweep Our first official purpose built singletrail on Rangituhi., built next to the first tower up the hill through low value grass and a few gorse bushes. 600m long with lots of sweeping turns and the signature feature built with a chimney from what must had been an old farm house back in the day. Crash Palace An expert downhill with three significant drops that should be scoped carefully first time. After the first 100m of steep technical descent through scrub, you'll drop down a bank onto a 4WD track. You have to continue along this road for about 500m before finding the single track again. The trail then flows through tight pine plantation with some drops and steep rutted sections. Rough Justice A modified four-wheel drive downhill track that starts at the end of Chimney Sweep. It has some wall rides on the inside and bermed banks on the outside. Watch for uphill park users including walkers, horse riders and other bikes. When this re-joins the main 4WD access road, climb up about 200 metres to the corner and wooden gate, below which is the start of Crash Palace. Tumeke Tumeke is a great fun single track descent for mountain bikes that runs roughly parallel to the Farm Road. There are two variations at the top (one Intermediate & one Advanced). Tumeke swoops and dives down the hill using the terrain for bermed corners, rollers and heaps of fun. The top section is for more experienced riders. Intermediate riders can enter opposite the top of The Doctor. Tumeke will take you through Mahoe, pine trees, open grass and gum trees on the way down. It is about 1.1 kms long, dropping to the Raiha Street Gate. Most of Tumeke designed as an intermediate trail, experts will enjoy the flowing nature of Tumeke, and riders wanting to tackle intermediate trail for the first time should be able to ride it at a lower speed. Not scary nor technical by nature, its character is simply fun and lots of it. How fast can you go? Trail 10 Once you arrive at the top of Utiwai, Trail 10 is an easy descent with a mix of switchbacks, rollers (or doubles) if you can hold enough speed. Trail 10 passes through regenerating native bush in the scenic reserve and drops about 50m in 1km. Two Way Trails (shared Walking, Running & Riding). The Doctor This is an easy grade two-way walking and biking trail which links the DOC Reservoir Track starting in Spicer Botanical Park to the 4wd road on the ridge above, close to Tumeke. This trail replaces the old DOC track which runs through the creek for some distance. The Doctor features native forest in the valley and partly cleared pine trees closer to the road. It is a great way to travel from the Spicer Botanical Park into the trail network or even the climb towards the summit. This trail is almost 1km long and has a rise of around 60m. Spicer Link This is a wide easy grade two-way trail for walkers and riders to share that can be started from Spicer Botanical Park or the Raiha St gate. Easy does not mean boring, as Spicer Link takes people through a huge range of vegetation and terrain. Fantastic for novices and as a general access trail. Traversing along the base of Rangituhi Colonial Knob, Spicer Link also serves as a "catcher" for the trails which arrive from above, such as Tumeke. Spicer Link is a favourite for walkers and families happy to skip the more challenging trails. One day Spicer Link may continue as far north as Rangituhi Crescent in Elsdon, and have linkages to the south as well. |
Trail reports and links to trail information
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