Where to ride in Wellington
The Wellington region is an amazing place for mountain biking. There’s a huge variety of options across all trail grades and for all skill levels.
Here’s a few of our favourite ‘go-to’ suggestions.
Mākara Peak MTB Park
Mākara Peak is Wellington’s premier mountain bike park - celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024. It has more than 40km of trails between grades 2 and 6, and some amazing views over the city and south coast out to the South Island. You’ll find the park on South Karori Road. Find out more on the Mākara Peak website
Matairangi / Mount Victoria
Matairangi / Mt Vic has been a mainstay of Wellington riding since the early 90s. Its place was cemented when the MTB World Cup held a round on the hill in 1997. Now the Matairangi Trail Builders look after the trails. The trails can be a bit of a maze, so many find a local, or look on Trailforks. Access the hill from the playground at the top of Pirie Street, or it’s an easy shuttle to the summit of Alexandra Road.
Miramar Track Project
The Miramar Track Project is a cool little volunteer-built park (like most of the trail areas in Wellington). Miramar has a prison theme, referencing the now-closed Mt Crawford prison at the top of the hill. The Park has three descending trails, an easy climb back to the top, Wellington’s first sealed pump track, and a set of purpose-built jumps (Con Air). The easiest way to the top is via the Conviction trail off the north end of Darlington Road. If you’re looking for something more challenging, check out Chopper trail off the western side of Main Road just underneath Con Air.
Waimapihi and Te Kopahou Reserves
Since 2008 the Brooklyn Trail Builders have been hand-crafting trails into the bush-clad slopes of Waimapihi and Te Kopahou. It’s one of Wellington’s best riding destinations, providing access to the south coast and across to Wrights Hill and Mākara Peak, and has some of the best views in the city from the Brooklyn wind turbine, and further up, the top of Hawkin’s Hill. Primary access to the trails can be found via the Transient trail at the upper end of Aro Street, or Clinical just around the corner on Holloway Road. Or if climbing is too much, start your descent from the Brooklyn wind turbine by heading down Carparts.
Karitane Dirt Jumps
For nearly 20 years, the pine-tree covered hills above the Wellington Zoo have been a location for community-built jumps. The Karitane Dirt Digs crew now maintain the jumps, and the flowy jump line underneath them. You can ride to the jumps via the Southern Walkway from the Carmichael Reservoir, or you can drive in via Truby King Park on Manchester Terrace.
98DH / K-Hole DH track
The 98DH track was Wellington’s first DH track, used for the 1998 National DH series. During the past 10 years, the trail has been extended, rebuilt, and remodelled into something more modern, and is now known as K-Hole. The top of the track is accessible off the Skyline walkway - ride north from the Mākara hill summit, or ride or drive up to the Montgomery Street playground - the start of the track is only a couple of minutes from this convenient shuttle drop-off point.
Wellington City Outer Green Belt
Wellington is surrounded by a green belt of bush-clad hills, and all of them have trails you can ride. The unique thing about Wellington is that almost all of our trail areas are connected via the outer green belt. The main trail through the Western outer green belt is Skyline, which links Mt Kaukau above Johnsonville with Mākara Peak, and then over Wrights Hill to Te Kopahou and Red Rocks. There are many entrances to Skyline - off McClintock Street North in Johnsonville, Chartwell Drive in Crofton Downs and Parkvale Road in Karori.
Mystic Portal
Mystic Portal was built in the early 2000s as a line with small jumps and drops. The trail was rebuilt after pine trees around the trail were felled, and now has some of the larger doubles and step-ups in Wellington. The trail is maintained by the Mystic Portal Trail Builders, and can be accessed from the corner of Connaught Terrace (just above the intersection with Pearce St), or on the grassy park next to the intersection of Hutchison and Westland Roads in Newtown.
Belmont Regional Park
The farm roads and tracks of the Belmont Regional Park were one of the first areas open to mountain biking in the Wellington region. The Belmont Regional Mountain Bike Association (BAMBA) have built and maintained a set of trails in the centre of the park, linking to the original farm trails in the surrounding hills. Access to the MTB trails is available from the woolshed at the end of Stratton Street, or you can shuttle via the farm trail at the end of Normandale Road. Other accesses to the park are available from Cornish Street (for access to the Korokoro dam track), the top of Hill Road, and Dry Creek at the bottom of Haywards Hill.
Wainuiomata Trail Project
The Wainui Trail Project started in the early 2000s, with a volunteer crew hand-digging trails into the native bush-clad slopes from the Wainui Hill Summit. Now there’s a great little park, with a range of grade 3, 4 and 5 trails. Access to the park is via the car park on Waiu Street, from the summit of Wainuiomata Hill Road, or via the Te Whiti Riser trail at Te Whiti Park off Whites Line East.
Rangituhi / Colonial Knob
The Mana Cycle Group have built a nice network of climbing and descending trails on the eastern slopes of Rangituhi/Colonial Knob in Porirua. Access to the park is available from the 4WD summit access road on Raiha Street or the Spicer Botanical Park car park on Broken Hill Road.
Opposite the Spicer Botanical Park, the Te Ara Tai Tonga trail will take you over the western hill line above Tawa and through to Ohariu Valley, which has links to Mt Kaukau and Skyline.
Karapoti Classic
The Karapoti Classic has a strong claim to being New Zealand’s original mountain bike race, its 50km of 4wd tracks providing a challenging (and scenic trip through the edges of remnant rimu and rata forest). The route has many intersections, so go with someone who knows the way, or use a service like Trailforks.
The Akatawara Forest has large areas without mobile coverage, so if you’re not riding with others, make sure someone knows your route, and consider taking a personal locator beacon.
Kapiti Coast and beyond
The Kapiti Coast is the gateway into some of the best truly wild backcountry near Wellington, with the rugged hills of the Akatarawas covered in 4WD, old and overgrown logging roads and railways, and well-hidden singletrack. The best place to start your exploration is Whareroa Farm - take the Queen Elizabeth Park exit from State Highway 1.
The Akatawara Forest has large areas without mobile coverage, so if you’re not riding with others, make sure someone knows your route, and consider taking a personal locator beacon.