Skippers Road into Skippers Canyon can be a very dangerous road and demands respect and a riders utmost attention as the road is narrow with massive drop offs and no railings and blind corners with a the surface that is rough with potholes, sharp rocks, and embedded stone, all combined with lots of traffic. When the road is wet some sections can also be quite slippery, especially where there is exposed rock. This is a road to take is slow and cautious.
Skippers Canyon is a New Zealand icon and regularly features in articles and tourist TV programs about Queenstown and the worlds most dangerous roads. Because of this you can meet mountain bikers, 4WD’s and mini buses shuttling tourists to and from Queenstown and on occasion the odd nutcase coming way too fast around corners! The road is quite busy and you can never assume there’s nothing coming around the next bend.
The scenery in Skippers Canyon is outstanding and the road travels both high up in the hills and down low near the river. Look down to the river below and you’ll see jet boating and river rafting.
There are a few side roads off Skippers to explore, the Tiger Trail near the Skippers village at the ‘end’ of the road is for experienced riders only on trail bikes with good tyres and never to be ridden alone. It has huge climbs, river crossings and is very very rough (according to friends from the area who have done it).
There is a DOC campsite at the end of Skippers road: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/skippers-area/things-to-do/skippers-campsite/
Skippers Canyon regularly features in international lists of the most dangerous roads in the world.
The Branches Road
The Branches Road is a continuation of Skippers Road up the east bank of the Shotover River, instead of taking the bridge over the Shotover River to the end of Skippers Road take a right and the road carries on for another 15km as a 4wd track.
The Branches Road is less well maintained than Skippers Road as it isn’t used by the tour operators, which makes it a more interesting piece of road with less traffic to contend with. After the turn off the road climbs sharply providing some excellent views, then descends slowly back down to the river level. There are a few shallow river and stream crossings and there’s a nice green camping spot with some ruins to investigate about 8km along the track.
The public track ends at the gates of Branches Station where it becomes a private driveway for the station, there are some walking tracks beyond the station which can be accessed with prior consent from the station owners.
Track type: Gravel Road
Track composition: Rough, Loose, Steep
Slippery when wet? Yes
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Intermediate
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Experienced
River crossings? Yes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBT-7Jdn2Y
This article was originally published on Stuff.co.nz
Company’s push to use Unimogs on ‘terrifying’ Skippers Rd
The local council is investigating the planned use of 10-tonne Unimogs to carry tourists on a Queenstown road described as one of the world’s most treacherous drives.
Go Orange plans to transport up to 20 people in each of the Mercedes Benz trucks along Skippers Rd, through the Skippers Canyon, to go whitewater rafting on the Shotover River.
The 22-kilometre historic road was hand-carved by goldminers alongside the river. It is one lane wide most of the way and has sheer cliffs that drop down hundreds of metres at many points.
Go Orange are permitted to use the Unimogs on the road as it is a public road.
A council spokesman said the council is investigating.
“There are resource consents associated to Go Orange’s commercial activities for which there are conditions of consent they are required to adhere to,” he said.
“I fear for the road and I fear for when a bus goes over. I fear for the people who will get killed,” he said.
He took photographs at Pinchers Bluff that showed how close the wheels of the Unimog came to the edge.
“I drive trucks and drive them on that road but I wouldn’t want to drive one of those [Unimogs] in there.”
The Unimogs were “scary as hell”, he said.
He was also concerned the vehicles were so wide, especially when travelling together, that they would effectively close the road to other users.
Go Orange manager Luke Taylor said he was “satisfied” the Unimogs were safe for the road and confident the weight and width measurements the company had provided to the council were correct.
“All that information has been checked. We have satisfied ourselves and the appropriate authorities including the NZ Transport Agency.
If the council decided the Unimogs could not cross the bridge, the company could empty passengers from the vehicles or not cross at all, as it was close to the rafting operation, he said.
The Unimogs were selected to replace old buses because of their “capabilities, suitability and safety”.
Road cones had been placed as temporary markers on the edge at some points while driver training was under way, he said.
There would be no more than two Unimogs travelling together at any one time, along with a pilot vehicle ahead that would radio the Unimog drivers and tell them to pull over and make room for any vehicles coming in the other direction.
The company purchased eight Unimogs, which would also be used for four-wheel-drive tours in the Von Valley, between Queenstown and Te Anau, and for a rafting operating on the Kawarau River in summer, Taylor said.
They had “wow” factor and were more comfortable than buses with bigger windows and better air conditioning.
The company planned to start operating them in Skippers before the peak summer season.
Video of my trip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAjvfnUSUm0
Skipper’s Canyon is fine. But think twice before entering Tiger’s Trail at the end.
I couldn’t agree more and care less with the posted warnings.
Huge thanks to @Cass . for sending in The Branches Road track to add to Skippers Canyon.
Bullendale Track also runs off Skippers Canyon and is signposted near the cemetery.
From the video below it looks pretty epic, if anyone is going up here can they GPS track it and send the track in please.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7W7uM5XCsw
You won’t need to worry about coming across one of these in Skippers Canyon any more as Go Orange are selling their fleet of Unimogs off.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/124845651/queenstown-tourism-company-go-orange-selling-off-controversial-unimog-fleet