Looping off and back to Waitaramoa Road in Pureoroa Forest’s North Block, Select Loop Road is a scenic, beginner friendly ride through native bush. If your over this way it’s well worth a look and a slow cruise to take it in.
The track has a solid base with no gravel and when I went through the grass in the center of the track was approaching knee height so it didn’t seem to get a lot of 4 wheel traffic.
While we’ve rated Waitaramoa Road & The Block as Intermediate the tighter and steeper bits that earnt that rating are past Select Loop Road so it’s still beginner friendly to get here, though a bit bumpy in places.
Select Loop Road is also promoted locally and online as a mountain bike ride so you could strike mountain bikes at any time.
Contributed by: @eddieb
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
I attempted to ride the Select Loop Rd yesterday. Post cyclone Gabrielle there are a lot of trees down in the Pureroa Forest area, including some large native trees blocking the track.
Thankfully there are lots of other tracks in the area to explore to keep you happy for hours.
Went through again over the weekend. This time we took saws and cleared a path through a patch of smaller trees blocking the road. There is still a large native blocking the road which can be bypassed by a little bit of bush bashing.
You probably don’t want to take a big ADV through until the native is cleared but is manageable on a single.
Also watch out for mossy bits of track. They’re slippery!
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCpvOZ1qopw&ab_channel=OnThrottle[/embed]
Here’s a quick and dirty vid of the track as of this past weekend.
If you’re the type that likes isolation, there are some great wee clearings on this road to pitch a tent.