Okataina Walkway Loop

A 50km loop from the Redwoods along the Okataina Walkway to Okataina Outdoor Centre then back along the main road.

August 14th 2020

Distance: 50km Moving time 3hrs 48

There was a brevet coming up which included this section of the Western Okataina walkway. Depending on the date it was going to run I was hoping to be able participate, covid & other commitments proved otherwise as dates were changed. The other unknown was whether this part of the track would be suitable for my cross bike. Only one way to find out but best to take my mountain bike despite well over half the ride being on the road.

I parked near the Redwoods on the Long Mile and headed off up the track parallel to Tarawera Rd coming out to ride up Okareka Loop Road then onto the track. A nice bit of uphill to warm up on. I’m feeling fit after managing plenty of riding over winter thanks to covid. The track starts after 10km and is nice going & mostly well maintained.

The Ride Rotorua website says this about the track. “…is an old logging road that dates back to earlier last century when the area was logged for rimu, totara, rata & kahikatea. It varies between wide and well formed to rutted singletrack with the occasional rocky or rooty section. Overall the trail rates as a grade 3 in terms of technical difficulty.”

Riding conditions are great with cloudy weather but it’s dry. The tracks around Rotorua being on pumice drain well although they do tend to wash out and get rutted easily as I found out when I went slowly over my handlebars as I drop into a big washout, no real damage but whacking my shins always hurts.

The track upgrade doesn’t reach all the 16km with big washed out ruts on the downhill from the highest point. This the section would be tough on my cross bike with drop bars and skinny tires I would have been off numerous times. The track flattens out and eventually deposits me at the Okataina Outdoor Education centre. I ran a few camps here in my past, the highlight being chasing wallabies at night with the warning that if you caught one not to let it kick out your guts with its hind legs. I never did find out if this was true. To use the camp I had to do a training weekend where the key skill to master was effectively using the floor polisher.

The rest of the ride is on the road although the first part is very quiet. The final 20km back to the car is busy and not really that enjoyable. I have my aerobars from my road bike fitted so I can crank out the final kms in good time.

I wouldn’t like to take my loaded cross bike on some of this track but it is only a relatively short section and if there was lots of road riding I would risk it. A nice day out overall and a track worth doing.