West Coast Wilderness Trail

The overall New Zealand Cycle Trail project is a joint initiate between the National Government and the Green Party, based on their memorandum of understanding. The joint sponsors are John Key in his function as Minister of Tourism, and Kevin Hague representing the Greens.^[2] The first section of the trail, from Greymouth to Hokitika, was officially opened by Key and Hague on 23 November 2013 at Kumara's Theatre Royal Hotel, on the first anniversary of the reopening of the historic hotel.^[2] There have been delays with the last section to Ross, and as of August 2015, the target opening date for this remaining section is Labour weekend in 2015 (the Monday of Labour weekend falls onto 26 October^[3]).^[4]

The trail can be ridden in three or four days, but the standard route description is for four sections. The trail is mostly ridden from north to south.^[5] On the New Zealand Cycling Trail website, slightly over three-quarters of the trail are shown as grade 2 (easy), with the remainder as grade 3 (intermediate).^[6] The detailed description below uses the grading used by Jonathan Kennett.^[7]

The official start of the track is on the Grey River stopbank in Greymouth next to the historic railway signal box. The track then follows the coast up to the Taramakau River. There, trail users are currently required to use the Taramakau River Bridge, which is the last remaining combined road-rail bridge in the South Island.^[8] A clip on is under construction by civil contractor Fulton Hogan, due to open later in 2015, and as an interim measure, rubber safety mats have been installed that seal the groove between the rail tracks.^[9][10] From there, the track goes inland towards Kumara, following an old tram line. The 30 kilometres (19 mi) section is grade 1.^[8]

From Kumara, the track gently ascends towards the Southern Alps. It goes past water races built during the time of the West Coast gold rush, today used for electricity generation. The route utilises a historic pack track in the Kawhaka Valley, and Kawhaka Pass at 317 metres (1,040 ft) is the highest point of the trail. From the pass, it is a further 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the replica western town that has been named Cowboy Paradise by its owner. The 37 kilometres (23 mi) section is grade 2+.^[11]

From Cowboy Paradise, there is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) downhill towards the Arahura River. Kennett writes that the "downhill is so sweet you might feel like riding back up to repeat the experience!" The Arahura Valley is left via a "toughish" 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) climb, and this is followed by a descent towards Lake Kaniere. From there, a mixture of trail and road use leads to the settlement of Kaniere. Hokitika is reached via an old tramline next to the Hokitika River. The 36 kilometres (22 mi) section is grade 3- due to the steep climb out of the Arahura Valley.^[8]

The trail leaves Hokitika on the Hokitika River Bridge clip on towards the south. From here, much of the trail has yet to be built, and in some sections, cyclists have to use narrow shoulders on State Highway 6, which results in the current grade 4 rating (advanced). The trail, once built, will use an old tramline and go within 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) of the West Coast Treetop Walk near Lake Mahinapua. The side trip to the treetop walk is part of the official track route. South of here, the route will follow the old railway line to Ross, including the picturesque 200 metres (660 ft) rail bridge over the Totara River. Once the trail is completed, this last section of 36 kilometres (22 mi) will be grade 3.^[12]