Must-Ride Queenstown Mountain Bike Trails

7 Mile Bike Park

• Location: 7 miles from Queenstown on the Glenorchy Road.
• Difficulty: All levels. Tracks are graded 3-5.
• Best time to go: Open all year. Trails are best from October until May

7 Mile bike park is excellent for beginner and intermediate riders seeking progression. The flowy jumpy trails have something for everyone, from Cool Runnings for beginners, up to the more advanced Angel’s Edge, Satan’s Corridor and The Steeps. Jack B Nimble has a series of tabletop jumps, railing berms and step downs. Upper Kachoong, Gravitron, and IB55 set the speed for you and make it safer and more fun for you to ride.

McNearly Gnarly and Mini Dream

• Location: Queenstown. Access from Wynyard Crescent or from Hammy's Track in the Ben Lomond Trail network.
• Difficulty: Beginner to intermediate with Grade 4 advanced sections
• Best time to go: All year, although not advised after heavy rain. 

McNearly Gnarly is the intermediate flow jump line jewel in the crown of the Fernhill Trails. With 60+ jumps, in your four-minute lap down you get so much experience. Once you get your eye in you won’t even realise that you’re taking bigger and bigger jumps. And the tabletop jumps mean even beginners can land safely.

McNearly Gnarly is built by the trail building legends at Elevate Trail Building, who travel around the world building trails for the likes of Red Bull and Crankworx. In 2020 they extended Dream Track (a pro jump line) and McNearly Gnarly to Mini Dream, a track with slopestyle course features, popular with riders training for Crankworx.

Hot Rod. Hot damn!

• Location: Coronet Peak. Access from Rude Rock by Coronet Peak base station.
• Difficulty: Signposted as Grade 3 but include some Grade 4 corners.
• Best time to go: November - April. Please respect the trail closures and do not ride in the winter or when the trail is wet. It is mainly in the open so suffers damage easily and is no fun to ride when it's muddy.

Hot Rod extends the world-renowned trail Rude Rock. The Dirty 4 trails – Dirt Serpent, Rude Rock, Morning Glory and Hot Rod, combine to form 1,200 vertical metres of descending flow track all the way to the valley floor. The trail is rated intermediate, but there's a couple of advanced dropping corners.

This may contribute to New Zealand’s longest downhill flow trail, but it’s so much fun, it doesn’t feel long. We’re talking really flowy, with big berms and fun features to keep you engrossed all the way down. Hot Rod is everyone’s dream.

'Carry On' Riding Your Bike

This technical flow track is a masterpiece of a trail. You can ride from the top of Skippers Road on the OG Zoot Track down and flow through onto Carry On.

• Location: Coronet Peak. Access at the bottom of the OG Zoot Track off the Coronet Peak access road.
• Difficulty: Advanced. Grade 4
• Best time to go: Open from Oct - mid May. Avoid after rain.

GROOT 

Ride the OG Zoot and instead of heading down to the Coronet Peak Access road take a right turn and pedal up for a couple of minutes before beginning the good part, Groot.

• Location: Coronet Peak. Access from OG Zoot trail.
• Difficulty: Intermediate. Grade 3
• Best time to go: Open from Oct - mid May. Avoid after rain.

Take the Coronet Loop for backcountry fun

• Location: A 50km + circuit. Access from Arrowtown.
• Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced. Grade 3 with Grade 4 sections that can be skipped. More challenging than the rest of the Queenstown Trail.
  • Best time to go: November - April. Usually closed between June and October to protect the surface during freeze-thaw, flooding and slip events.

This backcountry gem was added to the Queenstown Trail network in 2022. Wind your way across river crossings, past waterfalls, along historic gold mining tracks, past gold rush ruins, and through native bush, all with amazing vistas.

Locals recommend riding the trail clockwise, starting with a climb through beech forest up the bluffs by Bush Creek. This is a demanding circuit with several steep climbs, but the jaw dropping scenery and sense of wild backcountry more than makes up for the tired legs. 

This is a 50+km backcountry track with limited phone coverage, so you will need to be adequately prepared to be self-sufficient. As with all backcountry missions, a personal beacon, basic first aid and repair kit, and survival blanket are strongly recommended. Water is limited, but plenty of mountain streams for a refill along the way. Don't forget the chain lube!

The trail traverses through an alpine environment and weather can change rapidly. Check the forecast, bring extra layers, and tell someone when you expect to return.

Ride the Wharehuanui Trail

• Location: Runs for 17kms from Arrowtown to Arthurs Point.
• Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced. Grade 2-4. Most of the trail is Grade 2. The only significant climb is out of the Shotover Gorge where there are some Grade 3 and 4 corners. Once the trail reaches the lip of the gorge, it's an easy-going Grade 2.
• Best time to go: Open all year. Trails are best from October until May. Avoid after rain.

The Wharehuanui Trail opens up the north of the Whakatipu Basin. Begin the trail in Arrowtown, pass through Millbrook and follow Mill Creek upstream to its headwaters at the base of Coronet Peak. Here you can join the Coronet Loop, access the mountain bike trails off Coronet Peak via Hot Rod, take the Dan O'Connell Climb to trails in Mahu Whenua, or continue on as Wharehuanui runs below Coronet Peak and descends towards Arthurs Point.

Shout out to the local legends who build the trails

The Queenstown Trail network is maintained by Queenstown Lakes District Council under a maintenance contract and the other trails are maintained by Elevate and Dirt Tech who are expert local trail building companies.

There are lots of ideas for cool trail links and extensions in the pipeline along with more downhill racing throughout the summer. The club is also pouring resource into trail maintenance. In summer 2023-24, the trails saw more than 200,0000 riders, so the club is keen to keep the iconic trails everyone knows and loves in great nick. If you’d like to help, head along to Wednesday night digs, where people get together to maintain the trails, followed by sharing chips and a yarn. You can also become a club member while you’re in town, with 14-day membership for only $25. The club has over 90 business partners in Queenstown, so you get access to a huge number of discounts. It’s the ultimate local’s card.

If you love riding the trails, you can donate, become a regular trail supporter, or volunteer at events like the Queenstown Marathon and Motatapu that sponsor the trails network.

Plan your Queenstown biking adventure

Start planning your Queenstown biking adventure with our guide to biking in Queenstown. With advice for bikers new to Queenstown, families biking with kids, mountain biking for pros, gear hire, bike parks and top trails, we’ve got you covered.