Borland Road is a publicly accessible maintenance road for the power pylon that feed the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter from Manapouri power station, it’s a 40km gravel road that winds deep into Fiordland.
The road climbs high up and crosses the Borland Saddle at about 1km elevation, providing spectacular views of the Grebe Valley and surrounding ranges, it then descends down following the Grebe river finally reaching the South arm of Lake Manapouri, where there’s a DOC campsite.
The first half of the road is in excellent condition and nearly two lanes wide in places, however from the viewing point for the Grebe Valley onwards the road narrows and isn’t as well maintained, though it’s still a good road for any adventure bike.
The nearest petrol stations are in Tuatapere, Nightcaps, Manapouri and Mossburn depending on which way you come, it’s worth filling up at one of these as even doing so it’s about 200km between fills.
While not the most challenging road, it’s one of the most beautiful, providing the best road access into the most remote unspoilt part of the country on an unsealed road not yet filled with tourist operators.
Contributed by: @cass
Track type: Gravel Road
Track composition: Smooth, Firm, Undulating
Slippery when wet?: No
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Beginner
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Beginner
River crossings? No
Nice to see what it actually looks like. Went there last November, and it rained continuously, so just saw mist/foggy rain!!
Was looking into this ride and found this on the doc website, any verification it true?
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/fiordland/places/fiordland-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/borland-road-to-monowai-hut-track/
Borland Road from the Grebe look out closed
Borland Road from the Grebe look out will remain closed awaiting assessment and repairs.
First published on 31 October 2023.