Mountain bike trails
Popular areas for mountain biking include:
- Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park
- Mount Victoria
- most of the Southern Walkway
- Te Kopahou Reserve
- firebreaks around Karori Wildlife Sanctuary
- Skyline Walkway from Johnsonville to Karori
- Wrights Hill
- Polhill Reserve
- Miramar Peninsula.
Download
Mountain Biking in Wellington
(4.9MB PDF)
See this flyer for detailed information on these and other trails, including maps and ability levels.
Spicer Forest is currently closed to mountain biking due to works occurring in the reserve.
Spicer Forest Closure
Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park
A community initiative supported by the Council, the park has more than 30km of tracks and is recognised as one of the country's best mountain biking areas.
Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park
Tours
Free guided tours of Makara Peak mountain bike park are held on the first Sunday of every month at 10am from November to April. Meet at the Makara Peak car park (South Karori Road) next to the information / map booth. These informal rides are open to anyone - especially beginners, families and those new to the city. Allow 90 minutes for the tour.
Outstanding Park Award
Wellington City Council and the Makara Peak Supporters group recently won the New Zealand Recreation Association's (NZRA) 2010 Outstanding Park Award for their collaboration on Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park.
Wellington walkways
Parts of Wellington walkways are open to mountain bikes. For more information, see:
New mountain bike tracks
With Council support, volunteers have built three new tracks. Two of these tracks link Ashton Fitchett Drive in Brooklyn and one is on Miramar Peninsula:
- Polhill Reserve (Transient track)
- George Denton Park (Highbury Fling track)
- Miramar Peninsula (Jail Brake track)
The new Polhill Gully track is designed for bike use, while walkers can use the current track (although walkers can also use the new bike track if they want to). The new Highbury Fling track to George Denton Park is for mountain bikers and walkers.
Mountain bike skills areas
The Council has created four skills areas to help kids develop basic techniques to cycle off-road.
The locations are:
- Alexandra Road, Mount Victoria - Newtown-end of the road in the Town Belt
- Karori Park - on the hill behind the park
- Central Park - in the playground
- Miramar watertowers - off Main Road near Wellington Prison.
Areas closed to mountain biking
For information on areas and tracks in Wellington which are closed to mountain biking, see the Schedule A - Open Space Acess Plan in the following policy:
Volunteer to create trails
The Council is working with Wellington Trails Alliance (WTA) to create trails for mountain bikers, walkers and runners. They've extended trail networks all over Wellington, particularly on the Town Belt, Polhill Reserve and Miramar Peninsula.
Mountain Bike NZ Code of Conduct
Because Wellington's tracks are used by many people, the Council supports the Mountain Bike NZ Code of Conduct.