Waipara River trail

[ShinySideUp]

Has anyone been riding the Waipara River lately? If so, could you please advise what the conditions were like? We haven't done the Waipara before and wondering about riding it with our kids. Youngest is on a ttr90. Cheers.

[Transalper]

Not been there in probably 6 months, it's usually a wet ride with a bit of slime on the rocks/stones in the water.
Quite a bit of fun on a warm day. Go in at SH1 or from Amberley on Double Corner Rd after it becomes gravel and it's name changes to Teviotdale Rd. There are other entry points if you look for them.
Can take a bit of trial and error to explore your way up the river finding the shallower crossings. Pity the Waipara Pub is gone, popped out for lunch there a couple of times, been up in to the gorge area once and out to the beach once. Actually when I included the beach we had come in from the beach after starting in the Leithfield river.

The Leithfield is a smaller, often shallower quite nice river bed to ride too. Get in by the highway or near the pub.
The beach between is a bit flat and boring, sand is bad for bike bits and puts a load on the motor making things heat up.

[neels]

Haven't been up there lately either, however it doesn't generally change much other than the amount of water in the river, don't think there have been any really good floods recently.

As above it does involve some water crossings which can take a bit of thought about where to cross, and some wading through pea gravel which is usually only a problem for heavier bikes, but otherwise nothing too challenging. From SH1 down to the beach and back is doable as a day trip, Teviotdale road to the beach is easier going than further upstream.


The Leithfield is a smaller, often shallower quite nice river bed to ride too. Get in by the highway or near the pub.
The beach between is a bit flat and boring, sand is bad for bike bits and puts a load on the motor making things heat up.
In case you're poring over a map, the river from Leithfield to the beach is the Kowai River...