TE ARA AHI WWAIKITEAIKITE VVALLEYALLEY 2 DDAYSAYS 448km8km TE ARA AHI Hemo Gorge © Nick Lambert Thermal by Bike Trail Info This trail offers a 48km adventure through a Rainbow Mountain, Te Ranga Hot Pools thermal wonderland of steaming vents, bubbling and the Waikite Geothermal Field. Most of the geothermal areas are well 2 Days 48km mud pools and spectacular geysers. established tourist attractions, with a wide range of amenities such as cafés, etween the trail heads at famous of these is the Whakarewarewa souvenir shops, toilets and bike storage Rotorua and the Waikite Thermal Reserve, located next to facilities. TRAIL GRADES: Valley Thermal Pools, this Te Puia (the New Zealand Maori Arts & B We recommend you take at least two ROTORUA TO WAIMANGU cycle trail takes riders to four signifi cant Crafts Institute). Here you will also fi nd days to ride this trail. And if you want VOLCANIC VALLEY - GRADE 2-3 geothermal fi elds: Whakarewarewa, Whakarewarewa Village, which has more after that, Rotorua is a mountain- (EASY TO INTERMEDIATE) Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Wai-O-Tapu existed for over 700 years and is home A 30km ride taking 3-4 hours. biking mecca, with a range of world- Thermal Wonderland and Waikite Valley to many families of the survivors of the class cycle trails to explore. WAIMANGU VOLCANIC VALLEY TO Thermal Springs. Each has its own 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera. WAIKITE VALLEY THERMAL POOLS unique geothermal features, including - GRADE 3 (INTERMEDIATE) Other unique features along the trail rare fl ora and fauna, and is rich in Maori An 18km ride taking 2-3 hours. include the Lake Okaro restoration IMAGES BELOW LEFT: Poi maiden © Te Puia MOBILE PHONE COVERAGE: history and folklore. Possibly the most RIGHT: Lake Rotorua © Harriet Upchurch project (re-established wetland), Good mobile phone coverage from the start of the trail at Princes Gates LOOK OUT FOR... through to Waiotapu. No coverage on Waikite Valley Rd. Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village Lake Rotorua DRINKING WATER: Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley residents act as village guides, providing This picturesque lake is the second- Drinking water is available at cafés incorporates a living, breathing Maori a tour with a difference – from relaying biggest in the North Island and is perfect at the Rotorua Mountain Bike car village that relies village stories, to cooking meals and for windsurfi ng, park in the Waipa Valley, Waimangu on geothermal explaining how they use the natural sailing and Volcanic Valley, Wai-O-Tapu power for landscape for bathing, washing clothes fi shing. Tours Thermal Wonderland, Waikite the ease of and predicting weather patterns. You are available to Valley Thermal Pools and at Lake everyday living. can also see spine-tingling cultural Mokoia Island, Throughout performances including the haka, and in the middle of Okaro and the Waiotapu Tavern. the day local taste delicious traditional Maori food. the lake. 49 Rotorua Waimangu Waikite Valley TE ARA AHI Th ermal Pools 30km 18km “Nowhere else in the world can you get on a pushbike and ride for 48km past four 5 Lake Rotorua geothermal attractions.” 30 Todd McClay, MP for Rotorua ROTORUA Sulphur Bay Reserve Lake Okataina Lake Okareka Whakarewarewa Te Puia Hemo Gorge Whakarewarewa MTB Park Tikitapu Lake Tarawera MAP LEGEND (Blue Lake) open section 5 optional route Lake Rotokakahi (Green Lake) start / fi nish point point of interest Mountain biking - Whakarewarewa Forest Tamaki © Tourism Rotorua AA Centre Maori Village is 31km from Rotorua. At Waimangu i-SITE Visitor Centre Lake Rotomahana Volcanic Valley you can relax in the café town WAIMANGU or pay to go for a walk on a number of café/restaurant walking trails through one of the world’s Okaro Road toilets youngest thermal areas. 5 Lake Okaro camping Waimangu Volcanic Valley car park to Waikite Valley Thermal WAIKITE VALLEY Waikite Valley Rainbow Mountain THERMAL POOLS Road Pools, 18km accommodation Kerosene Creek d ey Roa (Te Ranga) 1 state highway all From Waimangu Volcanic Valley, V thermal ite Waiotapu area continue along Waimangu Rd, past the ik 38 a Lake Okaro picnic area (camping sites W Wai-O-Tapu to Wairoa Thermal available) and onto SH 38. Take care e Wonderland crossing the highway and follow the g 5 Whirinaki Stream n off-road cycle path around Rainbow a Mountain. After passing a roadside R picnic area the trail climbs further d a oa o around the mountain and drops down to R r ia e p a cross the gravel Old Waiotapu Rd. Here o P K you can turn left to go to Te Ranga (a e T thermally heated stream locally known L a k e as Kerosene Creek) or you can carry on O h 5 straight ahead on an off-road trail all the a k u Waihunuhunu Stream way to Waiotapu. Parts of the trail are r to Taupo i © AA Traveller 2015 steep here and may require walking. At Waiotapu you will fi nd a hotel RIDING THE TRAIL with accommodation, petrol station and a honey factory with a café and shop. Only 2km from Waiotapu is the Rotorua to Waimangu (the village entrance is 200m off the trail for mountain biking (100m off the trail on Waiotapu Mud Pool and the Wai-O- Volcanic Valley, 30km on your left). Guided tours are regularly your left). Here you will fi nd a café and Tapu Thermal Wonderland (paid entry). held through this historical village. bike hire etc. From the mountain bike car From Waiotapu follow the Waikite From the Rotorua i-SITE, ride east on park, ride 150m towards the highway to Valley Rd for 6km to the Waikite Valley Queen St to the start of the trail at the From the turn-off to the village, continue the start of a concrete bike path, which Thermal Pools – there is camping and Princes Gate Archway a few hundred following signs south past Te Puia, the runs alongside the highway for several a café here. metres away. Follow the trail signs around New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts kilometres of smooth easy riding. the edge of Lake Rotorua for 6km to the Institute, through Hemo Gorge to the The trail then follows Waimangu Rd to Note: The best time to ride is in the historic Whakarewarewa Maori Village entrance to the Whakarewarewa Forest the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, which summer, between November and April. 50 TE ARA AHI ALONGSIDE things to do... THE TRAIL This trail winds its way through a geothermal paradise and past stunning lakes, hot pools, Maori villages and striking forests. What other cycle trail offers you the chance to see boiling mud pools, erupting geysers and colourful crater lakes? Geothermal spots to check Summer evening barbecue, Lake Rotoiti out along this route include the © Destination Rotorua Tourism Marketing Whakarewarewa Geothermal Valley, the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, the Don’t miss the Whakarewarewa Forest, Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and one of Rotorua’s most spectacular the Paeroa Thermal Bluffs. natural assets and among its greatest A journey along this trail would not be treasures. The area known as the complete without taking in the culture Redwoods is popular for its towering at a Maori village. Options include the Californian coastal redwoods and Whakarewarewa, a living Maori village the walking track that winds its way and Tamaki Maori Village. beneath them. Lakes also feature heavily along the trail, Options along the way for soaking with lakes Rotorua, Tikitapu (Blue Lake), weary cycling legs include Kerosene Rotokakahi (Green Lake), Okaro and Creek, a thermally heated stream, and Ohakui all offering a different outlook. the Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. 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They responded, In Maori mythology, when the great sending fi re demons to his aid. waka Te Arawa arrived in Rotorua, These demons cut across the ocean, Ngatoroirangi had to stand on the surfacing at White Island, Rotorua and summit of what is now Mt Tongariro Taupo before reaching Ngatoroirangi in order to claim the surrounding land and freeing him from the lethal cold, for his tribe. As he reached the top of leaving a geothermal trail where they the mountain, he almost died from the had travelled and giving these places icy wind and the cold. To save himself the thermal activity that can still be seen today.