Starting from the center of Murchison by the pub, Fairfax street is the only street that heads South out of town. As you follow Fairfax Street and pass the last houses leaving Murchison the road changes it’s name to Matakitaki Road, so named due to the Matakitaki river the road runs beside.
At 10 km’s from Murchison, Matakitaki Road turns into an enjoyable smooth gravel road and the scenery takes a turn for the better with bush right up to the road edge, sheep beside the river and jagged peaks rising in the distance. On winter mornings there can be a lot of fog along Matakitaki Road which just adds to the experience.
17km’s from the start of the gravel the road takes a sharp right and crosses a stone bridge, it’s worth a quick stop here to check out the river below.
Just after the bridge the road changes name again to Maruia Saddle Road and the track gets narrower and enters bush. The Maruia Saddle road is 12.8km of mostly tight corners as it takes you over the Maruia Saddle to SH65 roughly halfway between Springs Junction and the Buller Gorge. The track surface varies from gravel to wet leaves and there are 6 stream crossings on the way, which vary greatly in depth and width depending on how much recent rainfall there has been.
Contributed by: @eddieb
Track type: Gravel
Track composition: Bumpy, Firm, Undulating
Slippery when wet?: Yes
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Beginner
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Intermediate
River crossings? Yes
Was guided through here at the weekend, two of us on old Norton’s.
A great little ride.
The forested area closer to Springs Junction is one of the prettiest rides you’ll find anywhere. Sure, it doesn’t have vast mountain panoramas but it does have a wonderful forest with little streams every few km.
The forest road is banked heavily but don’t be tempted to cut corners around the really tight bits; the locals use this road a lot and traffic is common.
The more open roads at the Murchison end are OK but pretty straight and bloody dusty if there’s traffic. If you’re there in Summer you’re going to have to have a BIG gap between yourself and the next bike to avoid breathing their dust.
Rode from south end to Murchison on way back from brass monkey. Great diversion from traffic .
Rode as a loop from Murchison, and back on the SH, 2hrs round trip. Very nice run, with the saddle road being the more interesting. Surface was quite loose and sandy in a few places, but stream crossings firm. Saddle point itself is harder to discern coming from the east, as one seems to go up and down for a bit before dropping to the western side. Sign on a tree helpfully marks the point.
Rode it last week in the rain. Two loaded whales managed it easy. Very little water in the crossings even though it had been raining since the day before.
Disappointingly visors got wet so we couldn’t take advantage of the big bikes on the superb gravel on the way into Murch…No speed limits broken.
Went through here heading north on the 12th track in excellent condition and fast as you want it to be.Headed back south through there on Saturday in the rain and still a great ride