Big River Mine is accessed via Soldiers-Big River Road which is the first road on the left after leaving Reefton heading South on SH7. The road is named as it leads to the mine working remains and a display about the Big River Mine that was located here.
Big River Mine’s difficulty comes from the track surface and terrain. The track winds it’s way up and down through native bush which in itself isn’t extremely difficult, but the nature of the track is that the surface for most of the track is large stones and there are very few places where a rider can easily stop or even relax and take it easy while riding. The track requires constant attention, balance and clutch control for the first 2/3s of the track.
Contributed by: @eddieb
Track type: Rocky
Track composition: Bumpy, Rocky, Steep
Slippery when wet?: Yes
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Intermediate
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Experienced
River crossings? Yes
I did part of the track on 15/10/2022. Was very rough. lots of holes and rocks. Mind going through the creek as the bottom is very slippery rock. I only did 3/4 of the way as I was to knackered to continue. Not the best track to do solo
Went up to the hut yesterday, track is good condition. Easy on a light adventure bike with some more challenging tracks off the side
Track good with some sections harder on a bigger adventure bike after some rain.
In November 2023 track was a bit rough in places for bigger bikes. Still great though.
Went into Big river on the 15th of March, road was in good condition but about 4km before the Big river hut there was a tree across the road and that was where we had to stop. Hopefully someone in a 4 wheel drive will have a chain saw with them and be able to clear it, it won’t take much but we didn’t have anything with us. Guys on bicycles can carry their bikes across but we couldn’t.
https://youtu.be/T9uBU2eaOLk