Cycle | Central Otago | New Zealand
Cycling on the Otago Central Rail Trail
Text | Anninka Kraus
Photography | Tobias Kraus
New Zealand Otago
The Otago Central Rail Trail is a 152km cycle trail in Central Otago and New Zealand’s original Great Ride and longest rail trail. Developed by the DOC in partnership with the Otago Central Rail Trail Charitable Trust, the trail opened to the public in 2000 and is still the easiest Great Ride nowadays, rated Grade 1 from beginning to end, and one of the most popular cycle trails in the country.
Although a gentle 2-5-day journey with no notable altitude gain – the gradient never exceeds 1 in 50 – on a trail that in itself is pleasantly unremarkable without any technically difficult trail sections, this ride in no way compromises on scenic beauty and remains steeped in early settler and gold rush history as it follows the old railway line in an arch between Clyde and Middlemarch.
jump ahead
Cycling the Otago Central Rail Trail in 3 days from Clyde to Middlemarch.
3-day Itinerary
Day 1: Clyde – Lauder, 44km or off trail in Ophir
Day 2: Lauder – Wedderburn, 35km
Day 3: Wedderburn – Middlemarch, 73km
4-day Itinerary
Day 1: Clyde – Lauder, 44km or off trail in Ophir
Day 2: Lauder – Wedderburn, 35km or Ranfurly, 48km
Day 3: Wedderburn – Hyde, 46km
Day 3: Hyde – Middlemarch, 27km
The Lord on Clyde offers luxury accommodation in Clyde at the start of the Otago Central Rail Trail.
what to expect.
Cycle across the vast open plains of the Central Otago Hinterland – a scenery that in its variety is at once soothing and exciting and magnificently enhances the beauty of the seasons: flowering orchards in spring, golden tussock-clad hillsides in summer, willow trees with yellow leaves lining the steep rugged gorges in autumn, and snow-covered mountain peaks in winter
Relics of the gold rush era adorn the trail: beautifully restored turn-of-the-century buildings, iconic railway stations and corrugated iron ganger’s huts, pitch-black tunnels, and imposing historic viaducts
Easy riding on a purpose-built and vehicle-free Grade 1 cycle track
Central Otago allegedly has some of the darkest night skies in the country and is a brilliant place for stargazing
location & trail information.
How to get to the Otago Central Rail Trail: The Otago Central Rail Trail is a 152km cycle trail traversing the open plains of Central Otago between Clyde and Middlemarch and usually takes 3-4 days to cycle. As the trail can be ridden in either direction, both Clyde and Middlemarch can be the starting point of your trip and are easily accessible by car from Dunedin (1 hour to Middlemarch) or Queenstown (1 hour to Clyde). Another option and a particularly fitting way to make your way to Middlemarch or back from Dunedin is a historic train ride on the Taieri George Railway (operating in summer only). Private shuttle companies (we can recommend Trail Journeys) provide transport to both Clyde and Middlemarch and will also move your bikes and bags along the trail.
Accommodation on the Otago Central Rail Trail: There’s beautiful accommodation on the Otago Central Rail Trail, yet finding something available in peak season was still our biggest challenge when organising our ride. Guesthouses and B&Bs in smaller villages along the trail usually rent out only a couple of rooms and book out quickly. Depending on your dates, consider booking months in advance.
When researching accommodation on the Otago Central Rail Trail we considered the following options:
Cylde: The Lord Clyde, Dunstan Times, Oliver’s , Alexandra: Hawkdun Rise , Wedderburn: Wedderburn Cottages , Ranfurly: The Miners Cottage, Maniototo Lodge , Nasby (off trail): The Old Doctor’s Residence , Ophir (off trail): Pitches Store , Lauder: Lauderburn House , Omakau: Matakanui Retreat
Restaurants and Cafes on the Otago Central Rail Trail:Clyde, Alexandra, Ophir and Ranfurly offer a choice of restaurants and cafes, but your options will be limited in the smaller towns in-between. In both Lauder and Wedderburn for instance, there’s only one family-run tavern, which may not be open outside of peak season without prior booking. It’s best to ask your host about dinner options well in advance and most will be happy to recommend and book places for you.
When to ride the Otago Central Rail Trail: All year, with the most popular but also busiest time being late spring to autumn (October to early May). Every season, even summer, has its challenges though, as Alexandra for instance is at once one of the hottest, coldest, and driest places in New Zealand. In winter some trail sections may even be covered with snow.
From our experience on the Alps2Ocean Cycle Trail, we know that cycling in the rain may be uncomfortable, but strong winds, although rare in this region, are the far greater challenge. If gale-force winds are forecast, consider postponing your ride.
Transport on the Otago Central Rail Trail: Bike hire, shuttle services, and bag transfers are readily available on the trail. Most people will cycle the whole trail, but as many trail sections are easily accessible by car, you can also pick the parts that interest you the most and cycle individual sections only.
What is the best direction to cycle the Otago Central Rail Trail? The prevailing winds from the west favour a start in Clyde and finish in Middlemarch, but as the trail is almost flat (+/- 700m elevation gain spread over 3 days) neither direction has more up- or downhill sections and there’s no right or wrong direction to cycle the trail. The views also seem to be pretty much the same, whether you cycle east to west or west to east.
It basically comes down to rain and strong winds/wind direction, which will influence your time on the trail far more (see “when to ride” above) than your initial decision to cycle in one direction or the other. I suggest you allow yourself enough flexibility to postpone your ride by a day or two if bad weather is predicted. Also, consider turning strong headwinds into tailwinds by cycling in whatever direction is most favourable and asking your tour operator for help with additional shuttle transfers.
What do you need to take on the Otago Central Rail Trail: Your bike gear obviously, including a puncture repair kit and suitable clothing (wearing a bike helmet is mandatory in New Zealand), water and snacks, toilet paper (this wasn’t provided in some toilets along the trail), a torch or cell phone with a flashlight (the tunnels are long and very dark), sunscreen and sunglasses, and a rubbish bag (same as on hiking trails: carry out what you carry in). Also, note that Central Otago can get very cold, not just in winter and take warm and windproof clothing (thermals, windbreaker, gloves!).
The story of how this rail trail came into existence reveals much about the history of Central Otago and multiple shifts in economic interests. The first Europeans to settle on this land in the 1850s were a couple of sheep farmers until the discovery of gold near the Tuapeka River in 1861 triggered far greater interest in the area.
When I learned that a fifth of New Zealand’s population in 1881 lived in Otago, I understood just how big of a draw the gold rush was and why a railway was called for to link Dunedin, New Zealand’s largest and most prosperous city at the time, to the goldfields.
Still, it took thirty years for work on the line to commence in 1891 and another 15 years passed in which hundreds of workers were busy laying 150km of track from Middlemarch to Clyde. When the first train finally reached Clyde in 1907, the gold rush had already abated.
For some time, the railway provided daily passenger service between Dunedin and Clyde and when economic interests turned back to farming, carried freight until the government-imposed rail monopoly on freight was also lifted in 1984. In 1990, the line finally closed.
The conversion of the disused rail line into the country’s first rail trail is the most recent chapter in the story of how cycle tourism became the biggest non-farming business in the Maniototo-Alexandra area (Otago Daily Times).
As you follow the trail through several valleys in the Maniototo, this landscape of open, sparsely populated plains hemmed in by the mountains may seem empty and barren at first. On a closer look, however, it reveals a surprisingly varied and vivid, albeit desaturated scenery of hills and gorges, bridges and tunnels and historic viaducts, abandoned goldfields and old gold mining towns, and high-country farms and pastures flanked by striking tors and snow-capped peaks.
Much of the gold rush and railway heritage has been carefully preserved – in the turn-of-the-century buildings in Clyde, the iconic old railway stations and corrugated iron ganger’s huts, tunnels, and historic viaducts. Yet whether it is these old-world relics, the vastness of the sparsely populated plains floating beneath a watery blue sky, or the speed of travel not so different to that of the railway well over a century ago that transports you back in time so easily, I’m not sure.
track details.
Start: Clyde | the trail can be ridden in either direction, so you can just as well start in Middlemarch and finish in Clyde
End: Middlemarch
Route: Clyde – Alexandra (8km) – Chatto Creek (17km) – Omakau (12km) – Lauder (7km) – Oturehua (23km) – Wedderburn (12km) – Ranfurly (13km) – Waipiata (8km) – Kokonga (10.5km) – Hyde (14.5km) – Middlemarch (27km)
Distance: 152km (incl. the Ophir detour and Alexandra 150th Anniversary River Track: 164km)
Time: 2-5 days
Elevation gain: +700m / -660m (lowest point: 140m / highest point: 618m)
Difficulty: the trail is a wide, well-graded, and almost entirely flat gravel path, rated Grade 1 from beginning to end
Options: the trail is suitable for cyclists, horse riders and walkers
Permits: none required
Further information: Official Otago Central Rail Trail website
Cycle | 44km
Clyde - Lauder
The starting point of the Otago Rail Trail is the little town of Clyde on the Clutha River at the entrance to the Cromwell Gorge with its beautifully restored historic buildings dating from the gold rush era. At the time, Clyde was one of New Zealand’s largest towns with 4000 inhabitants and although it’s much smaller nowadays, it still boasts a couple of renowned hotels and restaurants, making our decision to spend a night here before starting on the trail an easy one.
In the morning, we headed out towards Alexandra on the Alexandra 150th Anniversary River Track, a narrow trail dappled with the shade of willow trees that passes by beautiful sandy bays right alongside the wide Clutha River. The river track is the alternate, slightly more challenging route on the right river bank recommended to us by our shuttle driver, whereas the official rail trail passes through farmland and orchards in a dead straight, entirely flat line on the left riverbank. We loved pedalling along the river track, but it adds an extra 3 kilometres on a partly sandy track to the official trail distance and may not be suitable for everyone.
At Alexandra, the two trails meet again and everyone had coffee, soaking up the sun and last urban(ish) vibes in Central Otago’s largest town before heading north-east towards Chatto Creek. It’s small towns at best between Alexandra and Middlemarch dotting a huge expanse of open plains that becomes increasingly barren as pasturage gives way to craggy schist rock outcrops alongside the Manuherikia River.
After passing the Chatto Creek Tavern, the trail runs through irrigated farmland of the lower Manuherikia Valley that is flanked by the Dunstan Mountains rising to 1650 metres in the northwest and the Raggedy Range, which separates the Manuherikia and Ida Valleys, towering in the southeast.
It’s a beautiful 12km ride to one of the rail trail’s highlights at Omakau, the 5km loop detour across the Manuherikia River to the historic gold rush town of Ophir. Essentially, Ophir is just one road lined with a couple of houses, but many are beautifully preserved heritage buildings and worth a visit. Ophir’s post office, for instance, a small building of schist masonry dating to 1886 with an arched arcade in front, is the country’s oldest operating post office. Just around the back is the former jailhouse.
We returned to Omakau via the iconic 1880 Daniel O’Connell Suspension Bridge and followed the trail for 7km to tiny Lauder, our first overnight stop. The place was super quiet even in peak season and in retrospect, I’d say that Ophir probably makes for a nicer overnight stop than Lauder, as it offers a better choice of restaurants and accommodation options.
The Alexandra 150th Anniversary River Track is a narrow trail dappled with the shade of willow trees that passes by beautiful sandy bays right alongside the wide Clutha River.
Cycle | 35km
Lauder - Wedderburn
We pedalled out of Lauder and followed the trail as it meandered northeast, facing the imposing Hawkdun Mountain Range on the scenic 22km stretch to Oturehua. As the trail climbed into the Poolburn Gorge, we passed over the grand Manuherikia No.1 Bridge, the longest on the trail at 110 metres, and through two tunnels, both more than 200m long. Inside the tunnels, it was pitch-black and safer to dismount and walk.
You’ll need a torch or a flashlight on your phone to find your way. The gorge on the other hand is an oasis of greenery with a ribbon of leafy willow trees that marks the course of the river through the region’s inhospitable heartland.
The landscape along this trail section shows a fascinating transition from the rugged, inhospitable terrain pierced by schist tors into pastoral plains in the Ida Valley after the trail passes across the imposing 108 metres long and 37 metres high Poolburn Viaduct.
Next is Oturehua, a popular coffee and lunch stop before the trail climbs gently to its highest point at 618m altitude and descends to Wedderburn at the halfway mark and our second overnight stop, which we absolutely loved.
Although Wedderburn consists only of the Wedderburn Cottages, a 1928 farm homestead lodge and a row of small self-contained cottages operated by a fourth-generation Central Otago farming family, a historic tavern dating to 1885, and little red visitor centre and information barn, the impression is that of a charming little village with splendid views across the Maniototo Plains the Hawkdun and Ida Ranges.
The first of two tunnels cut through schist rock in the Poolburn Gorge section of the trail.
Cycle | 73km
Wedderburn - Middlemarch
The next morning, we left Wedderburn before sunrise expecting a long day on the trail to cover the remaining 73km to Middlemarch. We did not factor in the strong tailwinds that pushed us past Wedderburn’s original station building in no time and across the Maniototo Plain towards Ranfurly, the largest town in the Maniototo.
Established in 1898 as a railhead for the Central Otago railway line, many buildings were rebuilt in the architectural style of the time – art deco – after a series of fires destroyed much of the railway town in the 1930s. Nowadays, Ranfurly with its beautifully restored buildings in art-deco design, like the Centennial Milk Bar and Ranfurly Hotel, is a great place to stop for coffee.
As we biked out of Ranfurly, heading towards Waipiata, we admired the last of the long views across the Maniototo Plain towards the Kakanui Mountains and Rock and Pillar Range before the trail entered the upper Taieri Gorge at Kokonga. Closely following the Taieri River, we crossed over the 91m long Price’s Creek Viaduct dating from 1963 and passed through the fully bricked 152m long Prices Creek tunnel before entering the Strath Taieri Plain at Hyde.
Here, the foothills of the Rock and Pillar Range rising in the west slowly peter out and the trail enters gently undulating farmland stretching in all directions.
Helped along by the strong tailwinds we made it to Middlemarch in time for lunch, much earlier than expected. Don’t count on the strong tailwinds though – we were told one is just as likely to battle against strong headwinds and need much longer on this last stretch.
The gorges are an oasis of greenery with a ribbon of leafy willow trees that marks the course of the river through the region’s inhospitable heartland.
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