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While this is more of a route than a single track as it takes in several roads, it follows the coast line as close as you can get and there’s only a couple of options to turn off.
From the Raglan end the ride meanders through rolling Waikato back country farmland and as you get closer to Port Waikato the road rises to the top of the hills with views out to sea.
Not far South of the Waimai Valley Road turnoff a dirt track on the coast side should allow beach access but hasn’t been explored yet.
Got the chance to ride these roads yesterday, Have to say it was one of the most enjoyable gravel roads I have ridden recently. Some great looking country and the road was in really good condition. You could ride it easily on a road bike. Great riding all round. Took a little detour to Te Akau Wharf to look across the harbour to Raglan.
Did south to north recently on a lovely sunny mid-week day. A really great ride and quite easy for a relative newby to gravel. Some excellent views and lots of open space.
24/2/2018 Rode to Te Akau Wharf from Ngaruawahia then up to Port Waikato. Nice easy ride with some of the smoothest gravel i’ve been on. Fast ride with a stop at Nikau Cave & Cafe for a coffee on the way.
I’ve been for a ride today, out towards Raglan and then turned onto Ohautira road, turned onto Ruakiwi road and right through to Te Akau road and then on to Te Akau Coast road through to Nikau Caves. From there I just headed back to Morrinsville via Huntly. Not quite this route and not all the way to Port Waikato, but a good run with a decent amount of gravel.
It was good for trying out the new tyres (E07 Rear, TKC80 front) and playing with the settings on the bike. The default of traction control level 3 is an overprotective nanny, level 1 or 2 is much better – on level 1 I can give it a squirt and easily get some wheel-spin on gravel. I also tried out the ABS on gravel, it allows some amount of slip but the wheel doesn’t completely lock causing a risk of a low-side, I’m quite happy with the level of assistance and wouldn’t normally feel the need to disable the rear-wheel ABS.
Went up to Port Waikato and quickly headed back when I found the cafe on the beach was very shut (mid-week, out of season). Nice ride in excellent weather. Fortunately, Nikau caves cafe was open, and a really nice place to stop it is.
Went home via Dixon, Richardson then Otorohaea Trig. Dixon is mostly seal. Richardson is very nice, albeit short. Felt that Otorohaea Trig seems much nicer west->east, going uphill on the steeper more windy side.
As of 8/6/18, the central region of this route has many large patches of road where truckloads of large stones (~1″ dia) have been dumped loose and not rolled in, making it less pleasant than usual. A few other patches getting to be smooth hard mud.
Wonderful ride I did earlier this week as part of a 2 day jaunt from Auckland. I’m a bit of a gravel newbie, and this road was very manageable. A good way to practice and get more comfortable on the bike on loose surfaces. Highly recommend the side road to the Te Akau boat ramp shown below.
We rode North to South on the 31st of July. Stopped along the way at the Nikau Cave Cafe for a break. We were blown away at just how spectacular the scenery is along this route. It is an easy ride. A point ably demonstrated by a mature couple on a super scooter. On google maps it is possible to see a track down to the beach 1.5 km after Waimai Valley Rd (Nth to Sth). It’s called Hogan lane. We got put off by the private road signs. Does anyone know if the is public access to the beach?
Sadly there is no public access to the beach from Hogan lane (not the official name, Hogan’s are one of the land owners on the road). Easy enough to travel the first part of the road, there are plenty of council road makers up the road, however public access comes to end at two locked gates. From there, you need to cross two lots of private land to get to the beach. The farmer I spoke to said she believed there was foot access to the coast near one of the bridges further north.
Great piece of riding to do for seasoned and new riders. Relatively flat throughout, rain starting to create potholes on the track. Stop over at Nikau caves & cafe and enjoy a cuppa.
All good to go Lawrence , I rode it twice over the weekend 12th & 13th Aug from Ruakiwi rd, Mangiti rd all the way along Te Akau coast rd. Did Klondyke rd as well as that was blocked by slips the last time I was there, twisty but fun, I was going to do the inner route as well but ran out of time all the more reason to go back
Thanks for the reply Hami. I am planning on doing that soon and the Forgotten Hiway. We need more dirt roads, I watch youtube videos of guys in the USA – what a playground!
I did this one yesterday. The weather was great. I have done quite a few of these tracks from this site now and this is one of the best yet. The riding is easy to intermediate for > 650 cc. I only say this because the open nature of much of this route and lack of traffic encourage you to pick up the pace a little. It is also quite long so you need to keep your concentration up for an extended period. I did have one bull block my way for a while until we mutually agreed to go past each other.
The views are part open valley part coastal and are a fantastic backdrop to the track. I went from South to North as I had been spending some days around Taupo before this, the track terminates in scenic Port Waikato which is nice and is about 1.25hrs from Auckland so handy of you are going there.
Me and my KTM 790 adventure r bonded on this track. Fun!
Rode this on Thursday 28/03/24 was pissing down at times and windy at other times. Road was great, a little slippy here and there but nothing bad. Lots of fun!!!!
The road is closed at the port Waikato end it looks pretty serious from the photos the road guys showed us We tried to get through yesterday 22/02/23
Got the chance to ride these roads yesterday, Have to say it was one of the most enjoyable gravel roads I have ridden recently. Some great looking country and the road was in really good condition. You could ride it easily on a road bike. Great riding all round. Took a little detour to Te Akau Wharf to look across the harbour to Raglan.
Did south to north recently on a lovely sunny mid-week day. A really great ride and quite easy for a relative newby to gravel. Some excellent views and lots of open space.
24/2/2018 Rode to Te Akau Wharf from Ngaruawahia then up to Port Waikato. Nice easy ride with some of the smoothest gravel i’ve been on. Fast ride with a stop at Nikau Cave & Cafe for a coffee on the way.
I’ve been for a ride today, out towards Raglan and then turned onto Ohautira road, turned onto Ruakiwi road and right through to Te Akau road and then on to Te Akau Coast road through to Nikau Caves. From there I just headed back to Morrinsville via Huntly. Not quite this route and not all the way to Port Waikato, but a good run with a decent amount of gravel.
It was good for trying out the new tyres (E07 Rear, TKC80 front) and playing with the settings on the bike. The default of traction control level 3 is an overprotective nanny, level 1 or 2 is much better – on level 1 I can give it a squirt and easily get some wheel-spin on gravel. I also tried out the ABS on gravel, it allows some amount of slip but the wheel doesn’t completely lock causing a risk of a low-side, I’m quite happy with the level of assistance and wouldn’t normally feel the need to disable the rear-wheel ABS.
Overall a good day with a fun ride!
Went up to Port Waikato and quickly headed back when I found the cafe on the beach was very shut (mid-week, out of season). Nice ride in excellent weather. Fortunately, Nikau caves cafe was open, and a really nice place to stop it is.
Went home via Dixon, Richardson then Otorohaea Trig. Dixon is mostly seal. Richardson is very nice, albeit short. Felt that Otorohaea Trig seems much nicer west->east, going uphill on the steeper more windy side.
As of 8/6/18, the central region of this route has many large patches of road where truckloads of large stones (~1″ dia) have been dumped loose and not rolled in, making it less pleasant than usual. A few other patches getting to be smooth hard mud.
Wonderful ride I did earlier this week as part of a 2 day jaunt from Auckland. I’m a bit of a gravel newbie, and this road was very manageable. A good way to practice and get more comfortable on the bike on loose surfaces. Highly recommend the side road to the Te Akau boat ramp shown below.
The Te Akau coast road will be closed November 28th and 29th 2020 for a Rally car event.
Real amazing country – perfect grinded road
Rode this for the first time with a mate on April 25th.
Fantastic road
We rode North to South on the 31st of July. Stopped along the way at the Nikau Cave Cafe for a break. We were blown away at just how spectacular the scenery is along this route. It is an easy ride. A point ably demonstrated by a mature couple on a super scooter. On google maps it is possible to see a track down to the beach 1.5 km after Waimai Valley Rd (Nth to Sth). It’s called Hogan lane. We got put off by the private road signs. Does anyone know if the is public access to the beach?
Sadly there is no public access to the beach from Hogan lane (not the official name, Hogan’s are one of the land owners on the road). Easy enough to travel the first part of the road, there are plenty of council road makers up the road, however public access comes to end at two locked gates. From there, you need to cross two lots of private land to get to the beach. The farmer I spoke to said she believed there was foot access to the coast near one of the bridges further north.
Another one ticked off the bucket list in late April 2022.
Thanks for the GPS route map.
By the Waimai Stream. great landscape
Awesome colour contrast on that first shot looking towards the dunes @Brian. Lucky the camera bag survived the drop! 🙂
Great piece of riding to do for seasoned and new riders. Relatively flat throughout, rain starting to create potholes on the track. Stop over at Nikau caves & cafe and enjoy a cuppa.
Does anyone know if this road has been repaired and is open to ride again?
All good to go Lawrence , I rode it twice over the weekend 12th & 13th Aug from Ruakiwi rd, Mangiti rd all the way along Te Akau coast rd. Did Klondyke rd as well as that was blocked by slips the last time I was there, twisty but fun, I was going to do the inner route as well but ran out of time all the more reason to go back
Thanks for the reply Hami. I am planning on doing that soon and the Forgotten Hiway. We need more dirt roads, I watch youtube videos of guys in the USA – what a playground!
I did this one yesterday. The weather was great. I have done quite a few of these tracks from this site now and this is one of the best yet. The riding is easy to intermediate for > 650 cc. I only say this because the open nature of much of this route and lack of traffic encourage you to pick up the pace a little. It is also quite long so you need to keep your concentration up for an extended period. I did have one bull block my way for a while until we mutually agreed to go past each other.
The views are part open valley part coastal and are a fantastic backdrop to the track. I went from South to North as I had been spending some days around Taupo before this, the track terminates in scenic Port Waikato which is nice and is about 1.25hrs from Auckland so handy of you are going there.
Me and my KTM 790 adventure r bonded on this track. Fun!
Rode this on Thursday 28/03/24 was pissing down at times and windy at other times. Road was great, a little slippy here and there but nothing bad. Lots of fun!!!!