Mountain bike tracks

Centennial Reserve (Miramar) bike tracks

Access:End of Darlington Road, and several access points off both Nevay Road and Main Road in Miramar.

Tracks: The best place to ride in the eastern suburbs! Tracks have been built by the Miramar Track Project, a small group of mainly local mountain bikers. Track names such Solitary, Bootleg, Conviction and Jail Brake reflect the site's location immediately below Wellington Prison.

• Downhill bike priority tracks – Jail Brake, Solitary and Dual Slalom track 
• Shared-use tracks – Bootleg  Conviction, and Juvenile Delinquent (Juvie)

Look out for and give way to: Runners, walkers and buggies. 

Special features: Pump track, Dual Slalom track, close to Wellington Airport, intermediate tracks, kids' loop

Best place to start:

• For beginners, start at the pump track in the skills area. This is off Main Road, Maupuia, below the old prison.
• For single track beginners, try Juvie, Bootleg and the Dual Slalom. This circuit forms a loop.
• For more advanced riding, use downhill-bike-priority tracks Jail Brake and Solitary. Then return to the top via Repeat Offender and Conviction.

History: Miramar Track Project has developed the tracks.

Centennial Reserve

Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park

Location: Southwestern end of Karori.

Access: The car park entrance to Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park is 1 km down South Karori Road. Other entrances are halfway up Makara Road and near Makara Saddle, where the park joins the Skyline Walkway. There is also an entrance on Allington Road and another one on St Albans Avenue.

Tracks: This is mountain biking heaven in Wellington. Some of the most famous tracks are Koru, Missing Link and Aratihi  for climbing. Then from the peak down, there is a range for everyone: Peak Flow (grade 3), North Face (grade 4), Ridgeline (grade 5), and Vertigo,  Trickle Falls (grade 5) and Yeah Gnar (grade 6). All tracks are priority mountain bike tracks.

Look out for and give way to: Runners and walkers.

Special features: 40 km network of tracks, recognised as a world-class area dedicated to mountain biking, bird life, native bush, only 15 minutes from downtown Wellington, stunning views, toilet, car park.

History: The bike tracks were built by the mountain biking community with support from the Council. 

Best place to start: From the main car park, head up Koru and down Lazy Fern.The skills area is near the top of Koru if you want to get the feel of your bike before going downhill. Magic Carpet is a small loop of the skills which is great to practise going fast! 

Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park

Mount Victoria bike tracks

Access: Mount Victoria is easily accessed from Alexandra Road or the top of Majoribanks Street by vehicle or via a network of walking and cycle tracks from the surrounding suburbs.

Tracks: Mt Victoria has a huge number of tracks, starting from the summit is the famous Super D track on Mount Alfred, and branching off it are TTS, V and Rock Drop. Park Bench also takes you past where a scene from Lord of the Rings was shot.

• Priority mountain bike tracks – Bomb Hole, Damien's, Groms, Hippy's, Park Bench, Rock Drop, Trevor, Shuttlecock, Super D track, TTS, V Water Tower

No-go areas: The only part you're not allowed to ride is the Southern Walkway between Palliser Road and Oriental Bay. Most of the advanced and intermediate tracks are downhill priority.

Look out for: The sweet views! Give way to runners, walkers and buggies.

Special features: Easily accessed from the central city, 360-degree views of Wellington; lots of rooty, technical parts to practise skills; two fast downhill runs; skills area with jumps and table tops; and a sealed pump track.

Best place to start: The best place to start is at the top. Hippy’s Track (intermediate) starts on the north side of the summit carpark. After that, follow the Super D track which runs the length of Mount Victoria and ends at the skills area. Along the way there are intermediate, advanced and expert trails. 

For beginners, start at the skills area to get some practice before heading to the top.

History: Wellington Mountain Bike Club (WMTBC) volunteers developed most of the technical tracks in the area.

Mount Victoria

Polhill Reserve bike tracks

Access: Numerous access points, including Highbury Road, Holloway Road, Aro Street, Karepa Street, Ashton Fitchett Drive.

Tracks: Polhill Reserve is a well-used mountain biking area in Wellington. 

One of the most used tracks in the city isTransient – climbing from Aro Valley up to a four-wheel-drive track called Sawmill and on to the Zealandia fence line. From here you can carry on up the Fenceline track and onto a track called Windmill, which leads into Te Kopahou Reserve. This leads to the Brooklyn wind turbine. Drop back down from the wind turbine via Car Parts, Fenceline,  Rollercoaster, Highbury Fling and Ikigai – then onto the exhilarating Serendipity(grade 4) or skip Rollercoaster and Highbury Fling and join Ikigai from its start on the Fencline track.

You can also ride up Clinical, off Holloway Road, to connect to the tracks that lead to the wind turbine.

• Priority mountain bike tracks – Serendipity, Car Parts, Ikigai
• Shared-use tracks – Clinical, Fenceline, Highbury Fling, Rollercoaster, Sawmill, Transient, Windmill

No-go areas: No biking on Waimapihi loop or adjacent tracks. No downhill bikes on the top section of Transient to the Karepa link.

Look out for: Two-way tracks used by other riders, runners, walkers and buggies. Give way to walkers and runners.

Special features: Minutes away from central city, bird life, native bush, great views, wind turbine, close to craft beer pubs.

History: Most of the tracks have developed progressively by Brooklyn Trail Builders.

Best place to start: From Holloway Road head up Clinical, and along Highbury Fling . Or head up Transient from Aro Street, then take Sawmill and then Windmill up to the Brooklyn Turbine.

Polhill Reserve

Other places to ride

Karori Park

In Karori Park, the beginners loop K2 can be accessed from the carpark off Sunshine Avenue. 

For more advanced riders, there is the downhill technical track K Hole. This is accessed off the Skyline Walkway from Montgomery Avenue.

• Priority mountain bike track – K Hole

Skyline Walkway

Skyline Walkway (from Johnsonville to Karori Park and Makara Peak) takes you to the very top of Wellington. Check out the 360-degree views while being able to ride off-road above the city on 4WD and other tracks.

Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori Hill)

Te Ahumairangi riding options include the main connecting tracks over the Northern Walkway, Huntingdon Street to Ridgeline track, the Ridgeline track, West-East Connector track and Grant Road track. However everything else is out of bounds.

Te Kopahou Reserve

Te Kopahou Reserve (and Hawkins Hill) extends from the Brooklyn wind turbine to the South Coast. This area is perfect for the adventurous amongst us. Try downhill tracks, scree slopes and the amazing Red Rocks while enjoying a stunning view to the South Island. Also the perfect link between Polhill, Wrights Hill and Makara Peak, so you never have to ride on the road (skill dependent).

• Priority mountain bike track – Car parts

Wrights Hill

Wrights Hill is the way to ride off road from the city to Makara Peak. Includes Deliverance – one of the most challenging tracks in the city, and you can also see the incredible Wrights Hill fortress.

• Priority mountain bike track – Deliverance