Denniston track is usually ridden East to West from the Iron Bridge in Buller Gorge through to Denniston which is predominantly uphill, as this allows for early inspection of the major challenge which is the crossing of the Mackley River, 14kms from the Iron Bridge end.
The Mackley River is normally axle deep in summer, but can rise & fall fairly swiftly. It is recommended that you cross upstream of the normal 4WD crossing where the river is shallower.
The track From the Iron Bridge to the Mackley River is well groomed 4×4 track through heavy native bush with a steep descent to the Mackley river, and existing the Mackley River is the first steep loose section.
There are two other stream crossings. The one immediately after the Mackley has a challenging uphill immediately after the crossing, where rain can scour the track out. The other stream is shallow & has a firm base.
It is recommended that this track is not ridden alone, and that your bike has proper knobbly tyres, you should also have the ability to undrown your bike if you fall while fording.
The 37.4km Denniston track follows a power pylon maintenance track running from the Mackley River to the Denniston Plateau. There are a number of side tracks off the main track which generally terminate at power pylons. The surroundings vary between bush & rocky sub-alpine and there is a good camping area at the 3rd stream crossing. The track was in generally good condition when ridden in May 2015.
Because the Denniston Plateau is being assessed for coal mining you can expect to encounter 4WD traffic in the vicinity, also there are a number of mountain biking & walking tracks nearby.
Contributed by: @stephen-clark
Track Type: Gravel Track.
Track Composition: Rough, Loose, Steep
Slippery when wet: No
Suitable for bikes < 650cc?: Experienced
Suitable for bikes > 650cc?: Experienced
River Crossings: Yes.
Mike Thompson
Check the weather forecast and the river flows on the Buller District website before you go . The Mackley River is not to be underestimated !!
Daniel Banks
Mike Thompson
Check the weather forecast and the river flows on the Buller District website before you go . The Mackley River is not to be underestimated !!
Daniel Banks
This track is steep and awesome, just rode it on the week with some mates
Failed again on the 12th of Nov.Beaten by the Mackley. Rode in from New Creek meet six quads at the river.Three made across three didn’t. Decided not to attempt it as the quads disappeared under water at one point.Still a great ride in from Iron Bridge though despite a wee tumble coming back up from the river.
Went through yesterday, no problems at all. Track is in very good condition
Went though the Denniston track on the 16th of March ’24, road was in good condition, got to the Mackley and river was running at .75 of a metre, it came up to the bottom of the fuel tanks on the bikes, we got though O.K. but you wouldn’t want it much higher. There is a good web site run by the Westland District council that has the river flow levels monitoring live, so you can watch what the level is doing, the monitor is right there at the ford, so you can’t get much better than that. Walk the river! have a look where the bigger rocks are so you can avoid them, we ended up going up stream first and then turning down to come out more or less dead opposite.
Enjoy.
My date was wrong!! we did it one week earlier.