Possum Bait Line (Grant's Track)

Makara Peak, Wellington, New Zealand

Skinny alternative climb out from bottom of Leaping Lizard to Nikau Valley with lots of challenging switch-backs.

Intermediate

Bike and Foot

This is the challenging climb up from the southern extremity of the Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park.

After diverging off Leaping Lizard, this track starts out innocently enough with a gentle meander along a grassy valley floor. Then things get tough, as the track climbs up a series of very steep and tight switchbacks. Apparently some people actually enjoy the type of punishment meted out by this track. To each their own.

After a while the track mellows somewhat, as it generally continues to climb towards Nikau Valley – though some sections are, again, quite steep. Parts of the upper section are very narrow, with the gap between trees barely wider than bike handlebars.

Once you meet Nikau Valley the fun continues, as you'll need to forego much of the altitude gained on Possum Bait Line as you drop into a valley before eventually climbing out to meet Missing Link.

Bottom (southern end) is just up from the lowest point on Leaping Lizard.

Top (northern end) meets Nikau Valley about 250m from its Leaping Lizard end.

One-way, uphill from south to north.

1.32km

Single track

13 Sep 2009 by Ian

Jonny