Off-road regulations in NZ

[Wazzup]

Hi people. I'm from Spain and the off-road riding (hard trail) has become my favorite hobby during the last years. Unfortunately in our country the regulations about off-road vehicle transit are becoming more and more tight... in fact, near by Madrid you cannot almost enter the green -practically any kind of trail- on a legal way. :no: Fortunately still some provinces where riders still welcome!

For the next coming riding adventures I'm seriously thinking about NZ as one of the most interesting places in this planet for riding... is it? how are the regulations down there? you can easily ride and feel free (of course this doesn't mean not respect nature), or you can always expect a cop behind each tree? :confused: :Police:

Thank you for your answers.

[scott411]

thier is not a lot of area's you can just ride into, thier are alot of off road riding area's that are privitly run, and also alot of trail rides organised, as for riding in an area you find on the side of the road, thier is not a lot of cops guarding them, however it is not really legal.

[clint640]

Hi Mate, if by 'hard trail' you mean trails that you can use your GS Dakar on there's a quite a few, with lots of great gravel roads also, more so in the South Island. There's not much single track in NZ.

If you mean trails like you would find in an enduro & do on a smaller bike, Scotty is right, there are lots of organised rides in the weekends on private property (usually not too expensive) & 3 or 4 private riding parks, but not so much that is open to the public, although there are a few places here & there.

There are also several companies that run tours like these guys:
http://www.adventureride.co.nz/

Cheers
Clint

[cave weta]

I do trail tours of the Coromandel Peninsula , which is about one and a half hours from Auckland. The tours are based around the areas Gold mining heritage and are reasonably challanging. I have a range of rental bikes and no licence is required.

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[monchopper]

A few of guys I trail ride in the UK go to these guys a couple of time a year and reckon it's the business.

http://www.andaluciantrailtours.com/index.html

They've got some kickass bikes (Beta RR450 & CRF230's). You can take your own as well. Not sure how far from Madrid it is.