Victoria Street is a very unassuming name for a gravel road on the outskirts of the northern end of Thames. Starting with a concrete ford crossing Victoria Street then turns to gravel as it makes its way up into the hill following Tararu stream. After around 2.5km the grade increases to around 8% before quickly dropping into another ford (all dry this day) to climb again to the end of the road.
At the turning point, the road actually continues as a paper road, but a wooden fence stops anything other than walkers and mountain bikers. Victoria Street can be narrow in places and with surrounding doc land, walking tracks and accommodation, caution is needed as the area is popular with walkers. At the time of riding rougher gravel from the road edge had recently been graded onto the road on the last few hundred metres up to the wooden fence.
Contributed by: @daniel_fisher
Track type: Beach
Track composition: Smooth, Loose, Steep
Slippery when wet? No
Suitable for bikes <650cc? Beginner
Suitable for bikes >650cc? Beginner
River crossings? Yes – 3 concrete fords
I shot up Victoria Street on a recent ride up Coromandel way. It’s a nice little road into the hills.
There’s a couple of reminders of Coromandels gold mining past on the way, with this small mine only a hundred meters or so from the beginning of the road.