Otago Rail Trail

[GraemeWi]

Has anyone got a recorded tracklog of the Otago Rail Trail that they would be willing to share? I'm just in the final phases of trip planning

Cheers,

G

[ssarc]

I've biked it a few years ago, its big, wide, grey and stony. Beleive me you cannot get lost

[GraemeWi]

More along the lines of planning my pace (I'm going to section ride it)

Cheers,

G

[ssarc]

Two big days or three easy ones, we started at Hyde and finished at Alexandra, stayed the night at the pub at Oterehua (sp?), Ranfurly is nice, also a pub at Wedderburn. Ophir is supposed to be a nice side trip.

[GraemeWi]

Ok - sounds like I can do the bits I want without setting too mean a pace. I'm intending on parking and riding - returning to the car in late afternoon and then starting from the next point the following day. I'm mostly keen on the Alexandra through Ida Valley areas.

I've extracted the track from the Corax data I have and uploaded it as a .gpx file to http://esnips.com/web/GPSStuff and also as a native TrackMaker file at http://esnips.com/web/TrackMaker-CommunityMapping

Cheers,

G

[GSVNoFixedAbode]

Should be fun, and yes Ophir is well worth a visit.

[romatek]

I haven't done the track myself yet but I have heard ugly rumours of serious bike fiends doing it in a day....maybe just an urban legend though There was a time when there was a pub every 5 miles through that area(not by the actual track itself).....A fact like that alone could add a week to the trip

[BaldEd]

I've done it, in the days before I got a gps. If you have a week to spare then I recommend doing the loop Middlemarch- Rocklands Station -Paerau- Poolburn Reservoir- Alexandra - Ranfurly - Middlemarch. The first part to Alexandra follows the Old Dunstan Trail. This leg can be done in 2 days on a bike, but you need to be equipped to camp out one night. 2 mighty big hills to climb/push but 4 glorious downhills. This leg needs careful planning and can only be done in the summer as the Dunstan Trail is closed over winter due snow on the tops-the two major mountain ranges you cross are very exposed with no shelter anywhere. The Rail Trail (Alexandra - Ranfurly - Middlemarch) can be done in 2 big days. Can be a bit boring, the gravel surface is not hard packed in places and can be slow going. Need fat MTB tyres.

My mate and I traveled light and we utilised a 4x4 support vehicle driven ahead by a novice 4x4 driver -who, whilst on the 4WD/MTB Dunstan Trail, had instructions to stop whenever she came across possible difficulties and at pre-arranged rendezvous points. She also opened all the gates for us so we sailed straight past whilst she then closed them. Brilliant! The vehicle was very much appreciated for avoiding what would have been a 2+ hour, 8km push, getting steeper all the way, up to the top of the Rough Ridge range i.e. from S45 21.018 E169 53.963 to S45 20.733 E169 48.370.

There a few caches quite close to the Middlemarch-Old Dunstan Trail route: GC153, GCKYMN, and the rather neat GCNB1V (very close to where you turn onto the Linburn Runs Road) and GCTN0G.

Enjoy.

[GSVNoFixedAbode]

Dunstan Trail Classic pictures - also pre-GPS days.

[metrafolk]

We did it before xmas. If you want any easy way, Blind Billy's Holiday Camp in Middlemarch can arrange accomodation, bag transfers each day, and a shuttle bus to get you back to point A.

[BaldEd]

I forgot to stress that the Old Dunstan Trail is for serious 4x4's with high ground clearance and not for townie Subarus and other like cars. Even serious 4x4's can experience difficulty if there has been recent snow or rain.

Regarding the rail trail. Your average speed can be quite slow. My mate and I travelling light averaged only 13km/hr, in 2001, - opening and closing the gates across the trail we found to be very time consuming, though on a visit to the Hyde cache last November I noticed that DOC had inserted a cycling cattlestop near the Hyde cache. I presume from that the DOC is inserting/has inserted more of these - hopefully every fence across the trail now has one. An Ozzie friend, with full touring kit, eg , tent, panniers etc over this last Xmas-New Year averaged 6km/hr from Ranfurly heading towards Wedderburn due to a strong headwind. He and his mate gave up after an hour of that (realising that they were not going to reach Alexandra that day as planned). They returned to the Lion pub at Ranfurly for rehydration and then took the Plan B option of catching a shuttle bus to Cromwell. There are a number of accomodation option enroute aside from camping. You pass through a number of small towns most of which have accomodation - the rail trail has promoted tourism in the area.

[mjbnz]

and the rather neat GCNB1V (very close to where you turn onto the Linburn Runs Road)

Needless to say, growing up in the area means I know the loop you're describing well..