Short list of the NZ "Must-Do" adventure rides?

[rhino_343]

Hey guys has anyone made a short list of the best adventure routes to ride in NZ, such as Danzies Pass etc?? We are riding North to South in April and I am using the "Great Escapes, Motorcycle touring in NZ" book to plan our route, but it is mostly on Tar roads as far as I can tell and we want to ride as much dirt/gravel roads as possible through the best scenic bits. So if someone can point me in the right direction for a list of dirt track adventure routes that would be bloody good, if not if you can just make suggestions this also would be bloody good!

[CrazyFrog]

Heading from North to South, you're only limited by the hours you want to spend in the saddle. There's some fantastic riding, both sealed and gravel, it's gonna be hard to not zigzig across the islands.
In North Island, I'd recommend Hwy 22 from Pukekohe to Raglan, Te Mata Rd to Kawhia, Harbour Rd to Te Anga, over Te Anga Rd to Waitomo then TeKuiti.
From there you choose.... south thru the Taranaki or National Park, or East over to the East cape area.
Hwy 38 Rotorua to Wairoa via Lake Waikaremoana shouldn't be missed.
The Gentle Annie road from Taradale (Napier) to Taihape is good also.
The Turakina Valley from Taihape to Wanganui is a good link from there.
Most of the good adv riding in the Wairarapa south of Wanganui tends to be over on the east coast backroads again...plenty of them, maybe someone from that area will point you in the right direction.
In the South Island, the Molesworth and Rainbow Station roads are must do's, the Okuku Pass thru from Rangiora to Ashley Gorge is a goodie, the Hakataramea Station to Kurow, Danseys Pass, and Nevis crossing in Otago.
There's also some great tar seal routes, Arthurs Pass, the whole west coast, Haast Pass, Cardrona Rd, Milford Sound.
Anywhere you go you'll enjoy the riding, try and be flexible with your route and always talk to the locals in the pubs, they'll give you good local recommendations. Enjoy the ride!

[Jantar]

..... the Hakataramea Station to Kurow, .....

Turn east from Hakataremea Valley (well before Kurow) and over the Meyers Pass.

Others in Otago are: Thompson's Track; the Old Dunstan Road; Lake Onslow.

Mmmm, April, I may just be keen to join in some of those.

[Underground]

Mmmm, April, I may just be keen to join in some of those.

Me and Mountie are going to be down there next month too , we have unfinished bizniss with the Nevis from last winter ( got to the top but too much snow to continue )
Morva lakes ,Walter Peak is a goodie ,dont get hung up on the boat ride though (we rode it in and out ) you miss out on too much good riding to justify a boat ride across the lake.

[rhino_343]

Thanks fellas, keep it coming and by all means would be good to have some of you Kiwi boys join us far part of our ride (especially if you have local knowledge of the best tracks!!!) PM me and I will keep in touch. And keep the route suggestions coming. Damn I am looking forward to this!

[Tony W]

I suggest you buy a set of AA (Automobile Association) maps of the North and South Islands.

These show the gravel roads over the whole country. By browsing these you can plan a connecting route.
The beauty of these maps is that they show the names of the roads.
This makes navigation relatively easy.

I have used these maps for decades and have never gotten lost !

[Eddieb]

For proper off road I would suggest the 42nd traverse in National Park, it could be worked into the west to east section after Te Kuiti, and Fishers track at the same location if you have time to hang around a night there or nearby.

[rhino_343]

I suggest you buy a set of AA (Automobile Association) maps of the North and South Islands.

These show the gravel roads over the whole country. By browsing these you can plan a connecting route.
The beauty of these maps is that they show the names of the roads.
This makes navigation relatively easy.

I have used these maps for decades and have never gotten lost !

I assume these only are available from your AA? Should I try and buy over the net or is it easy to get them when I get to Aukland? I just bought a Hema NZ road map, would this be as good or not comparable? Thanks for the info!!

[rhino_343]

For proper off road I would suggest the 42nd traverse in National Park, it could be worked into the west to east section after Te Kuiti, and Fishers track at the same location if you have time to hang around a night there or nearby.

This is gonna be an intense two weeks, wish we had six months to really see all that NZ has to offer... but the wife might walk out by then and I am damn sure my dogs wouldn't talk to me after not being taken to the beach for 6 months
Conna have to start plotting all this out on the map and then the gps... hmmm this is gonna take a while!

[junkmanjoe]

Hi
depends on which way you want to travel from north to welington, east coast or west coast.
i recomend, Highway 52 starts at waipukurau heading south, but ya must turn left at alfredton towards masterton, or ya miss out on a fair chunk of it.
theres also castle hill road, on to old tinui road, will take you to castlepoint, great beach, is gas out there at the store.
but it all depends how much time you wish to spend in each aera, we can waist a day with no trouble just ticky touring around our back roads ....

luck with your tour.

[Transalper]

cooneyr's Adventure Routes website has info on some of the mentioned routes with GPS data ready to go.
In the South Island I'd say add the run in to Big River Mine from Reefton for a nice out of the way fun ride.... It's pretty much a oneway in and back out trip so be weary of the odd 4x4 or other track user coming the other way, but then you got to do that everywhere of course.

The Maruia Saddle (SHW65 to Murchison) and Braeburn track (a bit east of Murchison) are fun too.

There's also nice stuff between Culverden to Cheviot to Gore Bay to Motunau.

From Christchurch if me bikes back in working order and timing was right (weekends easier to plan for than week days) I'd happily show ya a day run (half day if we hurry) up the forestry along the Waimak river looping Lees Valley (Okuku Pass) and back. There's some nice scenic stuff out about on the Banks Penusula here too.

[warewolf]

I assume these only are available from your AA? Should I try and buy over the net or is it easy to get them when I get to Aukland? I just bought a Hema NZ road map, would this be as good or not comparable? Thanks for the info!!

Probably only available at the AA, they are free to members. www.nzaa.co.nz. There is reciprocal membership with the Aussie ones when you are visiting. They might even have stock of the NZ maps over there, might be worth asking. Otherwise I've got spares, I could grab some others and post them to you.

The Hema Motorcycle Atlas is the first atlas that I'm prepared to rely on, forsaking my beloved AA maps. Even the AA atlases lack sufficient detail. The AA maps aren't perfect, but are pretty good. The biggest mistake is usually sealed/gravel gets out of date, followed by backroad names mixed up, followed by roads omitted. Dunno about the level of detail in the Hema M/C Atlas, but it was put together by motorcyclists and seems to work Ok for me.

[junkmanjoe]

if you get to go through carterton is worth going up mt dick to the lookout, great view of the whole wairarapa valley.
happy to take you up there if you get down this way