On our way home from a holiday in Kinloch, Teresa and I decided to stop off for a night in National Park to ride Fishers Track. Here’s what we thought…
Getting there
Fishers Track starts from the edge of National Park Village in the Ruapehu District which was about a 2-hour drive from Kinloch.
We decided to use My Kiwi Adventures shuttle to pick us up from the far end so we started our ride from their office carpark at 2 Findlay Street. They gave us a trail map with nice simple directions for the ride, and they offer rental bikes and equipment if needed too.
National Park Village has loads of accommodation options. We stayed at The Park Hotel which has a couple of hot-tubs for a post ride soak, a bar and restaurant and it was reasonably priced too. They also had secure storage for our bikes.
The 4 Square and petrol station on SH4 has anything and everything you could possibly want for your ride from food, to spare tubes to hydration packs.
About the Ride
From the shuttle carpark we rode west down Findlay Street where there is another big carpark on your left that features well-kept public toilet and bathroom facilities. From here follow the road past the trail station around to the right and after a few hundred metres you will see the trail begin on your left.
Look for the Mountains to Sea trail markers and take a map, you can’t go wrong.
From the trail head, you have a 3km gentle climb through the Erua Forest on a shingle 4×4 track that offers the occasional vista of volcanoes. Flanked by native NZ bush and the Retaruke Valley, this is a pretty scenic ride.
After reaching the summit you have a flowy 10kms of gentle downhill skirting valleys and farm ridges. When we rode in January there were a couple of mud bogs to cross on the downhill section but nothing too technical. This is a ride that would suit anyone with basic riding skills and fitness levels.
The second half of the ride takes you past an idyllic looking Retaruke Country Estate (check out their stay and bike packages) and out onto the road for a 10km pedal through pristine NZ farmland to get to the monument corner and our shuttle pick-up point to reflect on the ride.
Checkout our YouTube video below, and let us know what you think?