This ride actually starts just out of the sleepy village of Kawhia on the aptly named ‘Raglan Road’ and winds it’s way North following the coast as much as possible to the surf mecca of Raglan. As you head North from Kawhia the road initially takes you inland before briefly skirting the edge of a large estuary and then heading inland into the rolling hills. As you get closer to Raglan the road follows the coastline weaving in and out of little bays and varies from open hillside to being surrounded by native bush. Like the Raglan to Port Waikato ride this is a series of roads rather than one end to end road so there are a few intersections on the way.
The quality of the road varies along this ride ranging from smooth to quite pot holed, and nearer the Southern end the road is more open as you are closer to Raglan the road gets very windy.
Contributed by: @eddieb
Track type: Gravel road
Track composition: Bumpy, Loose, Undulating
Slippery when wet?: Yes
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Intermediate
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Intermediate
River crossings? No
I did this ride on my scooter last November. The Kawhia end was fairly rough with only 10″ rims. But then the entire ride was to be a challenge. It was a lot of fun.
Looks like you are getting around on that scooter, well done.
I rode the northern section of this route over the weekend fgrom Raglan to Swann Access Road/Ruapuke Beach. This section is very windy and narrow and at the moment the corners are very corrogated and rough.
Given the amount of tight blind corners and the amount of corrogations on them in this section I have raised the recommended rider skill level for both under and over 650cc bikes on this route to Intermediate.
Waikato District Council advised today: The Raglan-Kawhia Road is almost impassable and at the moment access is limited. The road may be closed at times while work is done to repair this. Please avoid this route if possible.
Re road closures, Kawhia Rd was closed (and signs are up at both ends – just after B.V. Falls in north, and intersection in south) but it’s certainly open and passable as of New Years Eve.
I rode this with a friend on Friday last week. There is a section about 10 kms south of raglan where some of the 4WD boys have been having some fun, and have covered the road with 50mm of mud for about 30metres. If not treated with sufficient respect a rider could potentially lose their back wheel sideways and have a little lie down…..
The rest of it was very nice.
Hi All!! 30 Jan 2018 Went for a ride to Kawhia and took the Kawhia-Raglan road for a bit of a cruise. Thought id update the post with some new info for any riders looking through the maps!
Road was pretty smooth and good from the Kawhia end to the Te Papatapu road turn off.
The Kawhia road heading in-land towards Bridal Veil Falls was sign posted as closed which was lucky cause at first i was gonna head over the divvy from Hamilton towards raglan, through past Bridal Veil Falls and end up at the Te Papatapu intersection anyway and continue around the coast through to Raglan.
Te Papatapu road was good on the straights but corrugated and rough in some of the slower corners and hill sections. From Te Mata to Ruapuke is a great twisty hilly sealed section which was good for the inner hoon!
Ruapuke to raglan is rough and corrugated as usual with blind corners “BUT” closer to Raglan they had the grader and roller which were working on the road and what they had done was brilliant.
So guessing they might have scraped and rolled the road by now!
Keen to ride this again before winter comes! Hope you all enjoy the pics!
I enjoyed this route recently, lots of gravel roads around here (which is why the Rally of NZ used to run out here).
Some roads are a bit rough in places but I doubt anyone on 50/50 tyres would have any problem, road tyres would be slower going and more challenging.
Update update , Raglan to Kawhia
This Road is in good condition, I expected it to be a bit muddy after all the rain we have had in the last few weeks, but that was not the case. I did this Road two up with a road tyre on the front and a tkc70 on the rear, I would recommend a least a tkc or equivalent on the front as well, I would not recommend road tires on this road as there is a lot of loose gravel, also a bit of caution just past Ruapeke camp ground, there was some very wet clay in two areas only about 5 meters long at a stretch. But enough to give me an “Oh Shit!” Moment. Would have been ok if I had a different tyre on the front, (getting new one next week) great scenery all along this Route, thoroughly recommend it.
Side note, The falls road still had a detour in place and says the road is closed.
Jan 2019, road is in good condition, didn’t encounter any troubles. Huge fish burgers in Kawhia, could hardly finish it!
Some maps show some sections sealed. Can anyone provide updates. TIA
perfect road conditions – and country side –
Road is in good condition and glad I had the GPS, as at times though I was lost.
Another one of those roads traveled by few and I only saw a couple of Utes when I rode it in late April 2022.
Thanks for providing the GPS route.
Rode this one 29/03/24 set up my GPS and I am glad I did as there are several roads. Rained…. wind blew…. absolutely stunning road, Easter Weekend and I barely saw any traffic.