Essential North Island

DAY 2

Ride the backcountry on the Timber Trail (Pureora to Piropiro)

A drive south of Rotorua and through the volcanic heartland of the North Island brings us to the beginning of the Timber Trail – one of the most iconic multi day backcountry rides in New Zealand. After a final thorough check of our bikes and gear, we’ll head into the wild from Pureora, through dense mossy forest on single track, crossing numerous high suspension bridges over amazing forest canyons. There’s a sting in the tail on the first half of today’s ride – a 500 metre gradual ascent through cloud forest and mist, straight out of Lord of the Rings. After a break at the summit of Mt Pureora taking in the epic views, it’s an equally gradual descent down to Piropiro, and our accommodation for the evening, which definitely involves hearty food, hot showers, comfortable lodging and a well deserved drink.

ACCOMMODATION: Timber Trail Lodge  RIDE TIME: 4-5 hours DISTANCE: 40 km CLIMB: 500 metres  DESCENT: 540 metres  MEALS: (B,L,D)

DAY 3

Ride the Timber Trail (Piropiro to Ongarue)

Today is a day of undulation on single track through epic forest (again!), over spectacular suspension bridges, past weird and wonderful rock formations and remnants of New
Zealand’s colonial history, and all round fun on the best grade 2/3 trail in the world. After the 5km mark, the significant uphill section is behind us and it’s all about the descent through the forest, New Zealand’s highest suspension bridge, and experiencing the only rideable railway spiral in the world – a relic of New Zealand’s early logging pioneers.At the end of the trail we’ll head back to Rotorua.

ACCOMMODATION: Rotorua Riding House  RIDE TIME: 5 hours  DISTANCE: 44 km CLIMB: 400 metres DESCENT: 750 metres  MEALS: (B,L,D)

DAY 4

Free time in Rotorua

Rotorua is the cultural heart of New Zealand, and a fantastic place to explore, given the variety of options available – from zip lining, to lake cruises to rafting. We can point you in the right direction and help you reserve any activities you might like to do. Or if you’re keen to kick back and relax, it’s also a good idea to have a non-activity day to be rested for the following days riding! For those who are keen, we’ll have our bike guide and guru hold a bike maintenance workshop today, to go over our bikes and satisfy our need to tinker with our bikes. It’s good wholesome bike-nerd fun!

ACCOMMODATION: Redwoods Riding House

DAY 5

Ride the Whakarewarewa Forest Loop

Today we ride straight from the accommodation. The Whakarewarewa Forest Loop is a one-way loop that circumnavigates the forest otherwise known as the Redwoods. This 35km trail gets great views of Lake Rotorua, Tikitapu, and Rotokakahi. The trail is grade 1-2 with easy to moderate climbs and flowy descents. This is a pretty relaxing ride with anywhere between 2.5-4 hours in the saddle. There are opportunities to stop for coffee and a swim mid-way and there are also other routes that we can take depending on the group. The forest loop is made up of 27km of single track with a path back to town to close it off. There are a few other options within the forest to keep it single-track the whole way. That’s another one of the benefits of having a local guide.

 ACCOMODATION: Redwoods Riding House RIDE TIME: 2.5-4 hours DISTANCE: 35 km CLIMB: 850 metres DESCENT: 850 metres MEALS: (B,L,D)

DAY 6

Ride Whirinaki Forest

After the breakfast of champions this morning we’ll head south to Whirinaki Forest. This forest captures everything that North Island riding is all about – tight, winding single track through lush sub canopy tree-ferns and incredible native forest. On trails like this, even when you’re riding slow, it feels like you’re going fast! There are some HUGE emergent podocarp trees here, along with an abundance of native birds, and arguably the largest population of
native Kaka (the North Island’s own forest parrot). This place is a wild as it gets anywhere in the North Island. We’ll stop at a hot spring on the way back to Rotorua and celebrate another days epic riding.

ACCOMMODATION: Redwoods Riding House RIDE TIME: 4 hours  DISTANCE: 16 km or more if you’re up for it. CLIMB: 300 metres MEALS: (B,L,D)

DAY 7

Depart

Today is the last day of your North Island riding adventure with us. We hope you’ll have enjoyed your time here, having ridden some of the best trails in New Zealand and taken in the best scenery on the planet in the process. Our specialty is first class guiding, being welcoming hosts, taking care of all the logistics and nitty gritty details, and ensuring it’s all done in style. We’ll send you home relaxed, refreshed and looking forward to the next epic ride.

OPTIONAL
​Heli Biking on the Pakihi Track (from NZ$599 per person)

If you’ve chosen to stay on for this extra last day, get ready for the most unique heli biking trip in New Zealand, in one of the most beautiful areas in the North Island – the East Cape. After a drive through native forest and fertile plains of the Bay of Plenty, we’ll board a helicopter (complete with bike racks!) and fly into the densely forested of the Urutawa Conservation Area. This is BIG country, and the views are spectacular. After the drop off by
our heli shuttle we’ll begin our ride on the Pakihi track. If there’s more fun to be had on a video gamey forest trail, we’re yet to find it. The mix of dense forest, views out across the river, cool bridges and non stop descent make this ride truly out of the box, and best of all, we’ll have it to ourselves! There are some steep drop offs in a couple of sections on the track, so we’ll be kept on our toes. At the end of our ride we’ll head back to Rotorua.

TOUR DEPARTURE DATES

Departure dates

Ask us if we have any departure dates that suit your travel dates and we’ll see what we can do!

Available dates 2023/24 Season:

February 11 (FULL) | March 10 (FULL) | April 14 (5 spaces)

Available dates 2024/25 Season:

October 14-20 | November 10-16 | December 8-14 | January 12-18 | February 9-15 | March 9-15 | April 13-19