The Pram Track links Karapoti Road near Upper Hutt to Raumati/Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast and passes up and over the hills of the Akatarawas. A permit is required to enter Akatarawa Forest Park with a motor vehicle, however the permits are free and easy to obtain online from the Greater Wellington Regional Council website.
From the Karapoti end the track starts as a wide track following a stream, The first few km are relatively flat but with many large puddles, a few km in there is a stream that must be crossed which runs along the bottom of a ditch about ~8 foot deep with very steep sides. A little further after the stream the track starts to narrow down to single track width in places and undulates over the terrain. When the river is reached the track branches into a number of different directions. To follow Pram Track cross the river and follow the signposts.
Unfortunately my knowledge beyond here is limited, you can see why in the video below.
There are also a number of other tracks in the Akatarawa Forest that are suitable for Adventure riding, check out the Trail Riding Permit Map from the GWRC website.
Pram Track, and other tracks in the Akatarawa Forest are popular with trail & trials riders, 4×4, mountain bikes and walkers and you could come across any of these users at any time, heading in any direction. There is a speed limit of 30km/h for vehicles within the forest and you should kept left on the track, just like on any road.
Greater Wellington Regional Council website for access permits
Akatarawa trail map
Contributed by: Merv Harvey
Track type: Dirt Track
Track composition: Bumpy, Loose, Steep
Slippery when wet?: Yes
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Intermediate
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Experienced
River crossings? Yes
My attempt to cross Pram track wasn’t that successful.
I did the pram track last week on a ktm 690 enduro. It is a challenge for a beginner, I would not want do it without knobbies. Got stuck twice while crossing streams with slippery boulders. Ride it during a week day and you can take it slow without worrying about other riders.
We went through here on mid / large ADV bikes and the Mungatook end is fucken slippery, but entirely possible with a helping hand.
Yes, the clay can be very slippery when wet. Great fun though. We came back through there after doing Odlins road. Great fun on little bikes 🙂
Blog here.
Just before the river crossing.
Our ride through the Pram Track from Raumati to Upper Hutt. It gets VERY slippery when wet. I did not add the drops I had in the slippery clay to this video, and I stopped recording half way through so missed some of the even more technical parts that came later. I had huge challenges but at the end of the day I did have fun!
https://youtu.be/Al44vZdxKZM
Road the Pram Track yesterday. Rode to Karapoti from the Kapiti side & there is a slip very near the Karapoti car park entrance that has been taped off. That is the only way through and I would not recommend trying it solo. The slip is very narrow to ride over and a long drop to the river would happen if you get it wrong.
Very rutted in places between Orange Hut and Karapoti and a challenging ride but passable.
Rode through on Thursday the 25th.Lovely sunny day .Track still slippery in places despite no rain for several days.Big washout heading out karapoti rd but easily passible on a bike,could be a bit dodgy on a quad though if even possible. Really big 4WD ruts at the intersection of Whakatikei,Rimu and Dopers track but easily rideable. Lots of windfalls through the forest .
Rode this the other day. Track was in fantastic condition! Had rained the night before and softened up the clay nicely. Took an alternate route once we popped out after the big descent around 12km by taking a left hand turn and following the river followed by a quick right hand. Track up there is in excellent shape up there and is a really fun hillclimb.
The Akatarawa Forest Park has been in the news a bit recently, with 2 motorcyclists going missing on Matariki weekend and now Radio New Zealand releasing a podcast on the increasing number of motorcyclists in the park, and the problems they are causing.