Makara Peak
Makara Peak has become Wellington's premier mountain biking destination. A large network of tracks has been hand-made by the local community. The tracks cater for a wide range of abilities and there is plenty of honest hill to satisfy the hardiest of mountain goat types.
The Makara Peak tracks can be very busy during weekends and public holidays. If you prefer to avoid the crowds then go early, late, or during the week. The tracks are also popular with runners but mostly during times when the number of bikers are lowest.
This is not a good place to bring your dog. There is a very active possum poisoning programme and there have been cases of dogs dying after eating dead possums.
Track building
A new intermediate route down from the summit is being developed. The route will consist of several new tracks, running from the summit down to the picnic tables on Ridgeline Extension. The tracks constructed so far include North Face and Smokin', with JFK under construction over early 2011. See the Northface Blog for a running commentary of build progress.
Further information
See Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park for further information, including: discussion forum, events, track maintenance schedules, and track building blogs.
Webcam
Original source of webcam is here. It says big thanks to Wendy and Pete for hosting the camera, ditto!
Short video of a ride from the carpark to the Peak and back:
Tracks
Track type/distance summary
Single track
45.17km
4wd
8.10km
Double track
0.37km
Total distance
53.64km
Total number of tracks for Makara Peak: 36
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