Rata Street Loop

Hutt Valley, Wellington, New Zealand

Steep route from Rata Reservoir up to Mount Ken.

Intermediate

Foot (No bikes allowed)

This track heads more-or-less straight up the hill from the top of Rata Reservoir until it meets the Mount Ken ridgeline.

About halfway up there is an intersection where the loop part of the track branches off to the northwest across a bridge, eventually leading back to Rata Street.

Parts of the track are poorly designed. In particular, the section immediately above the bridge intersection is built in a gully that looks like it turns into a creek at times, so the track has been deeply eroded.

The track has a steep average gradient of just over 20%, but it is the steps that are the problem from a biking perspective. There are about 100 steps between the bottom of the track and the point where the loop branches off at the bridge – half of the steps are immediately above the reservoir. From the bridge to the top there are a further 50 steps or thereabouts. In addition, there are several other sections where there could be steps.

Consequently, it is easy to see why this is one of the few tracks in the Hutt Valley where bikes are not allowed – this track simply isn't suitable for bikes. However, it would be fairly easy to make this track suitable for bikes, by re-working the sections with steps (most of which are poorly constructed and many could be ridden past now, at least going down).

Starts from behind the water tank at the top of Rata Reservoir.

Ends at a T-intersection with Mount Ken.

The map currently only shows the section from Rata Reservoir up to Mount Ken. The loop part of the track branches off to the northwest about halfway up and loops around to meet Rata Street some way down the hill.

0.68km

Single track

1 Jan 2010 by Ian

Ian