St Leonards / Kaiwara Rd is a gravel road that runs from Culverden & links onto Random Spur Rd. Together, the 2 roads give an interesting dry weather alternate route between Culverden & Cheviot.
St Leonards starts sealed but quickly becomes a standard Gravel Rd. After the intersection with Lowry Peaks Road the road devolves into well maintained 2 track with grass in middle portion of the road. It climbs into foothills, & becomes more interesting. There is a good view from the top of the initial hills, but it then drops down & follows several streams thru gullies.
There is a couple of stream crossings at the eastern end, which are fairly shallow, with good bottoms. Good for splash & dash photos.
Stock is the main hazard, but there may be other rural traffic.
The route is suitable for beginning riders.
There are a number of gates to open through the road. Please leave these are you find them.
Contributed by: @stephen-clark
Track type: Gravel Road
Track composition: Bumpy, Firm, Undulating
Slippery when wet?: No
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Beginner
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Beginner
River crossings? No
Looks fabulous, great bikes, great views.
Video of my trip…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Nm7G8UTcg
Took Kaiwara road to Hanmer as Molesworth was closed due to fire risk. Everywhere dry and brown.
Left SH1 at Spotswood (having come Inland Road and then Leader Raod) and followed Featherstone, then Eggleston. Both are very easy rides, being wide and well maintained with fairly fine gravel, winding over hills and valleys with nice views towards the junction with Kaiwara Rd.
Kaiwara itself is narrower and more rocky in places, with lots of stock on the road. Some pretty valleys and great views from the tops at the northern side, although with very strong wind on the day.
Nice video I will add it to my itinerary.
Nape Nape Beach & St Leonards – Kaiwara Road are heavy bikes friendly tracks with breathtaking views! Highly recommended!
Nape Nape Beach is at the end of a 20-kilometre shingle road, just north of Greta Valley. It’s about 1.45 hours ride north of Christchurch. The landscape of Nape Nape is wild. It’s surrounded by dense bush and limestone cliffs.
St Leonards / Kaiwara Rd is a gravel road that runs from Culverden & links onto Random Spur Rd. You will see a good view on top of the hills.
https://youtu.be/1w3wEa50xpA
Just completed the St Leonard’s road track. The first and last parts of the gravel road are fine, however the centre section is deeply rutted particularly on the down hill corners where myself and wife as pillion came to grief backing ourselves into a deep drain impossible to pull out without the aid of a tractor or four wheeled vehicle with strops! We were in the middle of the ride miles from help, but luckily for us the land owner eventually found us and pulled the bike out. He said the council has totally ignored the middle section of the road and helping people like us and cars is a common occurrence. So my advice to you as of November 2023, would say totally unsuitable for beginners and always ride with someone else on this ride, there is Zero cellular coverage out there. On a more positive note, the scenery is absolutely stunning, just check with the council first before starting out.
Thanx for the heads up on this, great ride, I rode from Nelson, via the usual Dry weather Rd (Tapawera), Braburn track and Maruia sadle Rd to Hanmer. Rode Kiawara Rd then turned south to the river, down SH1 to Greta valley out to the coast and Motunau bay then followed a mix of gravel and twisty seal up the coast to Gore bay, into Cheviot then over Random Spur Rd and return to Hanmer on Kaiwara rd again. Brilliant Day!
Road this track on my Africa Twin and was great ride and nothing too crazy, few river crossings and gates to get trough (find them as you get them, of course).
Some locals(sheep) on the Road but always good to see them roam .