Hawksburn Road is an alternative, and far more interesting route from Cromwell/Bannockburn to Clyde or vice versa. At the Bannockburn end the road starts as gravel which slowly deteriorates into a dirt farm track. There are a number of gates on this track which should be left as found, usually closed. As the track climbs into the hills it follows local power lines for a while and this part of the track can be muddy at times, depending on the amount of recent rain.
At the peak of the track there are stunning views over Cromwell and the surrounding area with a short and steep and sometimes loose descent into Cromwell, which means if you are starting Hawksburn Road from Cromwell and heading towards Bannockburn you start with a steep rocky ascent.
We’ve rated this track as suitable for Intermediate to Experienced riders due to the steep ascent/descent at the Clyde end, however from Bannockburn to the top and return to Bannockburn would be suitable for Beginner adventure riders.
Contributed by: @eddieb
Track type: Dirt Track
Track composition: Bumpy, Firm, Undulating
Slippery when wet? No
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Intermediate
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Experienced
River crossings? No
Yes, that’s a great road.
will try it after bike week at Bannockburn in February
I find the Clyde to Bannockburn direction the best, you can stop at the pub for refreshments, good stops in Clyde also.
A friend of mine and I rode this road/track on 29 March 2019 from Bannockburn to the first of two lookouts over Clyde and Alex. He was a rank beginner – has his licence but hasn’t ridden more than a few hours anywhere. I was on my DRZ250 and he was on a Honda 230 farm bike. He had no real problem with the track surface or grades, confirming Eddies comments above. It was a great little ride with some fairly steep sections of track where you are riding over rock outcrops. We did it in the dry, I think we both would have struggled if it was or had been wet. As it was there were a few decent sized puddles on it to make life interesting. About halfway to Clyde, and well past the gate, we came across a grader cleaning up the track. After passing him the track was wide and smooth as you might expect but had lots of loose surface. Not much gravel so again would have been a very different story in the wet. (It probably also helped my mate that he didnt bother checking his tyre pressures before he went. He had about 5 psi back and front)
So I would add a note of caution, OK for beginners if its dry.
My mate wasn’t game to go down any slope he might not be able to get back up so we turned round at the first lookout and went back to Bannockburn. Later in the day I went down to Alex so took the opportunity to ride the bit we didn’t do, back up from Clyde to the look out. As noted there are two look outs and in my opinion the view is better from the one nearer Clyde, so if you don’t want to go all the way down the hill, then suggest you at least go down to the furthest lookout. There’s a good view of the dam from there.
I didn’t think the ride up and down from Clyde was bad at all, but it had been recently graded. Certainly there were harder sections on the ungraded track. Again, if its dry, i’d say its all OK for beginners on small bikes, if you take your time.
I’m saying all this because this road is a fantastic introduction to some properly adventurous riding for a beginner. The drop-offs are not super scary, the ride is great fun, there’s no traffic and the views are amazing. My mate was buzzing when he’d finished it. Ill post some pictures when I get them on to my PC.
Rode this again this weekend. With the road fully graded its pretty straightforward with only one steep climb in the middle where you have to be a bit positive. The climb up or down from Clyde is fine at the moment. Probably a little trickier in very wet conditions but a great starter ride