Ben Lomond Trails

Ben Lomond Trails

Starting life in the 90's as a training ground for New Zealand's aspiring World Cup racers, the Ben Lomond Trails (BLT) has a long history of churning out some seriously epic descents! From World Cup to Grundy, Vertigo to Thingymajig, BLT tells a story of Queenstown's epic biking heritage! A community recreation reserve, open for riding year round. this place has to be experienced!

In 2010, BLT became the nations first-ever Gondola assisted riding area, as Skyline Gondola began offering uplift services to bikers! With gondola access 6 months a year and freely accessible to riders by pedal power year round, you can ride one of 45 world class mountain biking trails and varying terrain for all abilities.

• Location: Ben Lomond Reserve, Queenstown
• Access: Ride up Skyline Road or take the Skyline Gondola to the summit
• Difficulty: Beginner to advanced double black
• Best time to go: September-May for gondola access, year round for pedal power

The Ben Lomond Trails experience

The 450 metre vertical rise & easy access makes one of New Zealand's best riding areas. With over 40kms of downhill tracks. Decades of history and thousands of hours of dedicated local diggers and businesses have built a world class trail network, right at the foot of town. 

While it's free to access, you should download the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club app and become a member to say thanks to the community that brought this bike park to life almost 30 years ago. QMTBC has taken over management of the BLT trails in addition to over 100km of trails in the wider Whakatipu Basin. 

Attach your mountain bike to your Gondola cabin and enjoy the uphill Gondola ride before detaching your bike and taking on the legendary challenges of the Ben Lomond Trails.

Beginner

Entry-level Hammy’s Track – a relatively mellow 6km sweep is a good way to warm up with its generous width and smooth berms. It’s the longest trail in the BLT area and takes in great views of Ben Lomond and Lake Wakatipu.

Intermediate

Another track to cruise before upping the ante is Thunder Goat that starts at the mid-way clearing before roaring down the hill on big, wide berms. Intermediate riders will love Vertigo’s steeper and rougher terrain, featuring a lot of rollers and small jumps to build your skills.

Advanced & Expert

Experience the old-school roots, rocks and fantastic flow of Single Track Sandwich, a local favourite. Tackle the steep, off-camber trickiness of Grundy with lots of gnarly sections to test your mettle, or Slippery Ninja, the double-black diamond tight rock-fest that will keep you on your toes.

If you came for jumps, you will find them on Huck Yeah. The jump trail was built by QMTBC Volunteers and the Skyline Park Crew.  Drop in to ‘Huck Yeah’ for a succession of nine blue and black level table top jumps to hone your big air skills.

Ben Lomond Trails is open year round with gondola uplift from September through May (weather and holuday periods may alter this). High-spec, full-suspension and downhill bikes are available for hire at many of Queenstown’s bike shops.