west coast wilderness trail

We rode the West Coast Wilderness Trail over 3 days. It is a great all weather track with spectacular New Zealand scenery. The signage is excellent and km markers are also great and keep the enthusiasm going.Our first day we shuttled from Hokitika to Greymouth with Chris from Wilderness Trail Shuttles and he provided us with maps and a wealth of knowledge of the area.This 29km section is very easy riding and almost flat the entire way The ride out of Greymouth is along the ocean side with spectacular views of the Southern Alps and Mt Cook. After a short stretch on the highway we then went into beautiful NZ forest and onto Kumara. There we had a drinks stop at the theatre royal hotel which has been beautifully restored. From there we continued on the 34km leg onto Cowboy Paradise. This section is a little more challenging with a few more hill climbs but still an excellent track surface. We took lots of stops to enjoy the views of the mountains and loved riding along the water races and old goldfields. We arrived into Cowboy Paradise (see separate review) at about 3pm so took us about 6 hours from Greymouth.Day 2 from Cowboy Paradise to Hokitika is 36km and starts off with nice downhill switchbacks down to the Arahura River and then onto Lake Kaniere which is a bit of a hillclimb on a quiet metal road to get there. Our favourite part of the ride was from Lake Kaniere through to Huranui Jacks alongside the water races and through stunning native forest. From there it is about 10kms along the road back into Hokitika. They are currently widening the shoulder on the road with about 5km remaining to be done at the time we rode it.Day 3 we rode the Hokitika to Ross section of 33km although it is not yet complete. It is a little hard to find the start of the trail as it is not sighnposted so make sure you ask where to get onto the trail. The first few kms is along the highway but once you branch off onto the Mahinapua track it is beautiful riding again through wetlands and bush. Another section of road riding before turning off again at Ruatapa and riding along the trail over amazing historic railway bridges to the town of Ross.Once completely finished it will make an outstanding 3 - 4 day ride.

We were a party of seven reasonably fit and active Senior Citizens who love to ride socially, who love to holiday together, and who love the beautiful NZ Great Outdoors.Our initial contact was Lisa de Rooy at Hokitika i-SITE. She is THE ONE to contact - she will willingly give you all the assistance you need to set up this amazing adventure. Her detailed maps and info booklet with daily outlines plus informative notes are essential.For cycle-hire contact Scott Williams at Coll's Sportsworld, Greymouth - he's your man! His service and his cycles are exemplary.This is a new trail in mint condition - the track surface, bridges, boardwalks, trail signs, km posts, toilet availability are all excellent. But be aware that at this stage (January 2015) Day 4 is still being put together.You have a variety of awesome natural scenery - the rugged West Coast sea coast, The NZ bush and flora and fauna esp native birds, the clear rivers from small streams to the mighty Grey, Arahura and Hokitika, the beautiful reservoirs and lakes, the mountains all around.Some favourites for us - the trail meandering through native rainforest, the views and reflections at the reservoirs and lakes, sighting a Blue Duck family and close contact with keas and wekas, the Arahura Valley vistas, being in the setting of the Luminaries... Actually there are far too many highlights to mention!HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

5 of us (3 adults & 2 kids 18 months) spent 3 days doing this ride and loved it. Track was in good condition and well sign posted. Greymouth kumara lake kanarie and hokitika saw us through the track as leg to Ross wasn't completed. Great family trip would recommend and was worth having a support driver each day (alternative to using the shuttle).

The trail leaves Greymouth and passes through Kumara and Hokitika before heading south towards Ross. The first 10 k is easy cycling or walking so you can enjoy the sea on one side and an awesome view of the southern alps and Mt. Cook in front of you. The Paroa Hotel is a great place to stop off for refreshments before you head over a large rail/car bridge. Kumara is the next little township with yet another country hotel that boasts wonderful meals and cold drinks. After kumara the trail heads into the hills. The trail surface is excellent for the lesser skilled cyclist and the hills are manageable if you allow yourself the privilege of walking up the odd one if you are not an experienced cyclist. This part of the trail is acceptional. Biking through forest, beside canals, over rivers until you reach cowboy paradise town which is the most interesting little place. You can get a great view up here. The best way to travel this part of the trail is to get dropped off at cowboy town and then head north to kumara if you can arrange that luxury. After cowboy paradise town it's all downhill to the Arahura river and then through the valley to Lake Kaniere. After kaniere the trail follows a water race through some awesome bush with native bird calls constant. At Hurinui Jacks the trail joins the main road. I haven't been further south yet but notice that there are constant improvements and extensions being made on this track. I've biked lots of trails round NZ and this one is the best if you want a glimpse of NZ.

Too much loose gravel in places. Needs to pack down a bit. Unpleasant cycling alongside the road in places. Greymouth to Kumera sector of 30kms nice distance but too far for an average rider to complete the return. Some form of transport back to Greymouth would be good. We didn't make it to Kumera as a result. Signage to facilities would be useful eg dairy, pub say. Liked riding alongside the ocean.Well grade and nice wide track.Would like to do more as was advised Kumera to Ross is very scenic & interesting but this needs better planning on my part.

My husband and I have just completed the trail from Greymouth to Hotika in a day and a half. There are still some areas to complete but it has only been open a relatively short time. It is a fantastic trail through varied terrain. We stayed at the Kumara Theatre Royal Hotel (dinner bed breakfast and packed lunch). A wonderful experience in itself- great food and accommodation. They have a shed our bikes were locked up in overnight. We chose to go all the way from Kumara to Hokitika which took us 6 hrs with minimal stops. Next time we will take 3 days, stay at Cowboy Paradise and spend more time exploring the points of interest on the track. Chris from Wilderness Trail Shuttle was fantastic with not only our cycle transportation but with local knowledge of the trail, maps and info and other things to see in the area.

Firstly, as per the previous review, the trail is not fully complete, and we cycled the open sections, Greymouth - Kumara, Kumara - Cowboy Paradise, Cowboy Paradise - Kaniere. (You can continue to Hokitika but we had to cut it short in order to be picked up in time to meet the train in Greymouth). General info: The track is well laid out, easy surface to ride on, we found the signage to be good and there are markers every kilometre, which were good for morale! There are portaloos at regular intervals - we were never caught short. On days 2 and 3 there is nowhere to buy food en route so you will need to take a packed lunch. We found the West Coast Wilderness Trail and Wilderness Trail Shuttle websites to be very helpful when planning this trip. Chris and Lisa from the Shuttle provided us with information and maps and were helpful in answering questions before our trip. Day 1 - Greymouth to Kumara (2hrs cycling)This is the easiest day, there are no hills and it is very pleasant. It starts off along the beach front from Greymouth, at Paroa you follow the road (on a separate track). It is necessary to cross the Teremakau River on the road/rail bridge, but we didn't find this as scary as it sounds. Follow a line of traffic over and ride in the centre and you'll be fine. Then you go into forest, which is lovely and quiet. The last part into Kumara is along the road, but it is wide enough that we never felt exposed to the traffic. We stayed in the Theatre Royal Hotel - reviewed separately (it was great!)Day 2 - Kumara - Cowboy Paradise (5hrs cycling)We had read that Milltown is just a name on a map, so we decided to stay at Cowboy Paradise, the alternative being to go on to Lake Kaniere. The first part of this day follows the water races, climbing out of Kumara and going around a reservoir. Mostly it is forest track, with a short section on the Old Chch Rd, which is downhill. The real climb comes after the weir, when the track goes steadily uphill for a few kms. I found this hard going but not brutal. It was my first ever multi-day cycle and I've never done much uphill biking before! With frequent rests I made it to the top. The track undulates a fair bit, so there are downhill breaks among the uphill slog. After the pass, there are some switch-backs to negotate downhill, which were fun. Beware there are a couple of river crossings to negotiate as well. After that it's a pleasant cycle through the forest to Cowboy Paradise (reviewed separately). The view from the Cowboy Paradise plateau is wonderful. Our one criticism of this day is that there are not enough benches. It had rained heavily the night before, and there were several points where we would have liked to take a short break, but we had to stand as it was too wet to sit on the ground. There are recesses off the track where it looks like they will eventually put benches. Day 3 - Cowboy Paradise - Kaniere (2.5hrs cycling)The first part out of Cowboy Paradise is a wiggly track down the hill through some cow fields - super fun. Then you reach the bottom of the valley and it's flat until Pyramid Hill. You need to go over the hill, which was a real challenge for me. But I made it, again no bike-pushing. After the hill you can coast all the way to Lake Kaniere, which is beautiful, and then come the Kaniere Water Races. This part of the track is heaps of fun, really interesting and is mostly downhill. Following that is another forest track - with 3 river crossings. My feet got wet as I chickened out of riding through. We ended our ride shortly after this, at Hurunui Jacks, where we were picked up by Chris from the Wilderness Shuttle. All in all, this was a brilliant trip. As my first ever multi-day ride, it has set the bar high. The scenery was amazing, there were enough ups and downs to keep it interesting and the distance on each day was manageable. We met people who did the whole Kumara - Hokitika section in one day. That wouldn't be possible for me, but they said it was fine.

We got very confused by this listing and the website. We have since completed the actual West coast wilderness trail. It is not a rail trail and the website shown on this listing is not the official site for the west coast wilderness trail at all. there is no west coast wildness rail trail. Just this company that calls it that. this got us most confused when we were trying to do bookings and get information as it was a guided bike company and we kept getting quoted inflated prices (twice what we were quoted directly from accommodation providers). Its free to bike the west coast wilderness trail. The only costs are for accommodation and food along the way. So do be aware that its not a rail trail. And the official site is the west coast wilderness trail.

I did this with a group of 4 people over the last 3 days. Firstly, it is not the west coast wilderness rail trail. It is not a rail trail and has been confused with a company name. The section from Greymouth to Karamea follows the sea wall and then on a gravel track beside the road. Flat and easy riding. Biking the Taramakau bridge was exciting, as it is a one lane train, car and bike bridge. we got lost after the bridge as no signs. This was one of the worse sections when we had to ride along main highway with no shoulder. However, it was a short section. Some trees were down in the next bit which we had to climb over, and the locked gate. Got an electric shock. Then another 2 kms on busy open road. Will be great when these sections are finished as the open highway riding was very unpleasant. great overnight in Kumara. Next day rode the section Kumara to cowboy paradise. Lots of shingle roads, but also some lovely sections. Lots of gradual climbing. the third day we rode to Hokitika. the most stunning section is from Lake Kaniere along the water race track. It was stunning and a not to be missed trail in nz. But it was horrible on the open road from the water race track to Hokitika. About 10km on an open road with the shoulder closed. That is not my idea of a trail. Once they have finished the trail it will be so much better. I rated very good, as I think it will be. Parts of it were very poor, others average. But the company of family and friends made it a great way to enjoy the NZ scenery and this made the trip very good!

The person at the Greymouth I site was so disinterested in our questions we felt like we were intruding on her busy day stamping brochures...a bad look for a service oriented information centre. The printed hand-out is misleading. It breaks the trail ride into approx. 35km daily sections. Sadly the Cowboy Paradise had been affected by a recent severe storm, and they were in re-build and clean-up mode when we passed through. Please be aware that "Milltown" which is the end of day three DOES NOT exist. It is merely a name on a map. When reading the info. we assumed that Milltown was a real entity (village) or small town, and planned our trip thinking there was some services assocoated with the place. There was not even a house! We therefore had to cycle a further 36kms to Hokitika which made the day a long and challenging ride. You need to have planned the days rides and organised transport to have a seamless and enjoyable experience. The cycle ride itself is VERY scenic, but signage is lacking and the trail can be missed if you are not very careful. The Hokitika to Ross section is not yet opened. We were lucky to have struck a great day for our extended ride. A word of warning when cycling across the road/rail bridge between Greymouth and Kumara - it is dangerous if your wheels get stuck in the gaps between bridge decking and rails, a rider broke his collar bone on the same day we were rding the trail. We were pleased to find "Wilderness Shuttles" available at Hokitika to return us to our accomodation. This is a very scenic area and with a little tweaking the trail will in due course be a great asset to the area once the kinks are ironed out.

What can I say? Breath taking journey. Traveling with friend in a wheelchair. Mobility friendly. Helpful crew. Very comfortable.

Two days riding certainly didn't live up to our expectation of everything we had read about this bike trail. Far too much road riding between Greymouth and Kumara !! Understand this is to change but nah can't see us returning as the overall experience was disappointing; also found signage definitely wasn't as good as it could be. Trails shouldn't be open officially, as this one is, until they are complete. On the positive side, the weather was perfect for riding which was one big plus !!!

Spectacular scenery, wonderful to arrive at Cowboy Paradise and a couple of cold beers, meal and a comfortable bed. Look forward to doing it again especially when Hokitika to Ross section is completed.

I loved the West Coast Wilderness Trail from Kumara to Hokatika but not so much the section from Greymouth to Kumara which is obviously not yet complete. It was unfortunately 'on road' too much for my liking & the crossing of the road/rail bridge over the Taramakau River is very dangerous for cyclists to share with motorists. Lorna MacGregor

We biked from Kumara to Milltown (which is Cowboy Paradise- nothing in Milltown) and the 1.5 hrs biking from Kumara to Reservoir wasn't the most beautiful biking ever. But it definitely improved from there to cowboy paradise. Mike has created a wild west town and the cold beers in the saloon were liquid gold.The trails for the hr either side of Cowboy Paradise are the best.