Best short bike rides in Marlborough

By: Christopher Cookson

Last Modified: 29-3-2023 11:14

Marlborough is a great place for cycling, with the famous Grape Ride and Queen Charlotte Track attracting people from far and wide, but if you’re a casual cyclist or have kids, you probably don’t want to engage in something epic. Fortunately there are plenty of easier options, although some of them will require you to have a vehicle with a bike carrier. It’s hard to rank some very different rides, so I’ve given them a rating on several criteria; Scenic quality, facilities, difficulty, and ease of access. For ease of access, I’ve considered travel time from Blenheim, as Marlborough’s main population centre, since Picton and Seddon are only 30 minutes away by car, Renwick is even closer, and all of these combined cover the majority of Marlborough’s population, and major accommodation options for visitors.

If you think I’ve missed any or my ratings aren’t right, feel free to register and share your thoughts in the comments.

Taylor River Reserve

Starting from central Blenheim, the Taylor River Reserve runs about ten kilometres, all flat until the last few metres, to the Taylor Dam reserve, which is a great spot for a picnic and to do some bird watching. Much of the route has asphalt or concrete path, and you’ll share it with pedestrians and dogs, so you need to be alert. There are plenty of trees along the route, and quite a few park benches to sit down for a rest, but not many toilets, although there are toilets at Taylor Dam, and in the Blenheim CBD. There’s a pump track part way along the route which is great for kids of all ages. This easily gets first place, as it’s scenic, easy, has food and drink at the CBD end, and you don’t need a car to transport your bikes from Blenheim.

Scenic Quality: 4/5

Facilities: 4/5

Ease of Access: 5/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 5/5

The Golden Mile

This is the bike ride for wine aficionados, around Renwick and Rapaura visiting a number of wineries and dining options along the way. This maybe won’t be quite so appealing for kids, but if you like wine, food, and moderate exercise, and want to keep your carbon footprint down, this has got to be one of the best ways to get around Marlborough wineries.

Scenic Quality: 3/5

Facilities: 5/5

Ease of Access: 4/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 5/5

Redwood Street to Taylor Pass Road – Wither Hills

An easy mountain bike ride in the Wither Hills Farm Park that can be done in either direction, 4.8 kilometres via the Rifle Range track from Redwood Street to the Rifle Range carpark, then about another 1.5 kilometres to the mountain bike park entrance. There’s also the lower farm track option that’s shared with walkers and runners, but the Rifle Range track is more scenic, taking you past a pond, through trees, and higher up on the hills with great views out over the Wairau Plain, but all without anything too steep.

Scenic Quality: 4/5

Facilities: 2/5

Ease of Access: 5/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 3/5

Kotuku Track

The Kotuku Track is a 4.5 kilometre (9km return) shared walking/cycle trail from Hardings Road to the south bank of the Wairau Bar. It’s actually possible to connect to it via the Riverlands Rail Trail, but requires crossing State Highway One at Cob Cottage Road, and riding a few hundred metres along the main highway to Hardings Road, however this is a bit of a hairy experience, and not something you’d want to do with young kids. The Kotuku track itself has scenic views of the Ōpaoa River, and the unique salt marsh environment of the Wairau Lagoons. The track is flat and grassy, so needs a bit more pedal power than a sealed or gravel track like the Taylor River.

Scenic Quality: 4/5

Facilities: 1/5

Ease of Access: 4/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 4/5

Blenheim – Spring Creek (and Rarangi)

The Spring Creek cycleway is a nice easy cycle trail that runs parallel to the railway north from Blenheim to Spring Creek, crossing over the historic old Ōpaoa River bridge. The Grovetown Country Hotel is about halfway along the route, although you’ll need to cross busy State Highway One to get to it if you want a feed or drink. It’s only about five kilometres from Blenheim to Spring Creek. Much of the route has been landscaped with native plantings. From there, if you want more of a ride, you can head through Spring Creek out to Rarangi via back country roads. Although there is traffic, it’s not the main highway, and Rarangi Beach Road has an off-road cycle path that runs beside the road. From Spring Creek to Rarangi is about another ten kilometres or so, with a return trip from Blenheim about 30 kilometres, so if you just want a short ride, it may not be your thing, but if you want a carbon free trip to the nearest beach to Blenheim, it definitely doable.

Scenic Quality: 3/5 (to Spring Creek) 5/5 (at Rarangi)

Facilities: 4/5

Ease of Access: 5/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 5/5 (to Spring Creek) 3/5 (to Rarangi)

Riverlands Rail Trail

Starting in central Blenheim, the Riverlands Rail Trail is an easy cycle trail that heads south east to the Riverlands industrial estate where it transforms into the Whale Trail. The trail is an easy four kilometres one way, or eight return, with the option to turn off at Cob Cottage Road to visit the historic Riverlands cob cottage. There are some nice views of the Wither Hills and vineyards along the way, but in some parts, the vegetation beside the trail is quite weedy.

Scenic Quality: 2/5

Facilities: 1/5

Ease of Access: 5/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 5/5

Conders Bend Mountain Bike Park

This is more or less a giant six kilometre long pump track winding through exotic pine and acacia forest. There are a few humps and bumps but nothing that involves actual mountains or hillsides, and the greatest challenge probably is not getting lost as the trail loops back on itself in a few places, and amongst the trees with no external landmarks for reference, it’s easy to end up going around in circles! It’s great fun, and with tight twists and turns, kids can make up for their shorter legs with greater manoeuvrability, so the whole family should be able to enjoy a fun time.

Scenic Quality: 3/5

Facilities: 1/5

Ease of Access: 4/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 4/5

Linkwater to Anakiwa (and Umungata/Davies Bay)

Marlborough is more than just the Wairau Plain, and of course the Queen Charlotte Track is renowned as a mountain bike track, but it is by no means short, nor easy, however if you want to get a taste of the magnificent scenery of the Queen Charlotte Track without too much exertion, this is a good way to do it. You could always start at Anakiwa and bike to Umungata/Davies Bay, but there is a cycle trail fromLinkwater, that is part of the Link Pathway, there’s accommodation at Linkwater, and a classic country pub at Linkwater for refreshments, and the cycle trail out to Anakiwa from Linkwater is scenic in its own right. In summer, you can enjoy a swim at one of Marlborough’s best beaches. From Linkwater to Umungata/Davies Bay is about six or seven kilometres, depending on where you start from in Linkwater. This ride should really be top of the list for scenic beauty, but it is a bit more off the beaten track, so unless you live at Linkwater, it’s not a track you can decide to do at a moment’s notice, as it’s a substantial drive from Blenheim or Picton to get to.

Scenic Quality: 5/5

Facilities: 3/5

Ease of Access: 2/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 4/5

Patriarch Road

Although this is quite a drive from Blenheim or Picton, where else can you enjoy riding a flat trail along the top of a mountain range? It’s quite a long drive out along the Northbank Road to Top Valley and then up the steep, unsealed Staircase Road to the Lake Chalice carpark, but from there, there a several kilometres of flat road along the Richmond Range with views down to Lake Chalice, before the road becomes a progressively rougher four wheel drive track and then eventually a mountain goat tramping track to the summit of Mount Patriarch. Unless you’re an adrenaline junky with a death wish, you’d be wise not to try to bike to Mount Patriarch, but you can get a good way along the road with some fantastic alpine views without having to do anything extreme.

Scenic Quality: 5/5

Facilities: 1/5

Ease of Access: 1/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 4/5

Black Birch Stream Mountain bike Track

The Black Birch track is definitely a mountain bike track, with a few gnarly bits where the track drops down to cross some small creeks, and there are some pretty muddy sections too, but if you get off and walk the few steep bits, it’s mostly quite rideable without having to be a serious mountain biker, and at about 20 minutes drive from Blenheim over Taylor Pass into the Awatere Valley, it’s one of the closest ride to Blenheim that will have you in native bush. It’s even closer for those who live in Seddon. The last couple of kilometres of track up to Black Birch Bivouac are quite steep, but there are about six kilometres of track before this that will give you a good wilderness experience without having to get into hardcore mountain biking, and you can always walk the last couple of kilometres if you want to enjoy the view. The only thing that downgrades the scenic value of this ride is that it's mostly in the bush which is great, but you don't actually get to see much of the surrounding landscape.

Scenic Quality: 4/5

Facilities: 1/5

Ease of Access: 3/5

Difficulty (1 is hard, 5 is easy): 2/5

Cite this page

Cookson, C. (2023). Best short bike rides in Marlborough. Retrieved December, 5, 2023, from https://www.marlboroughonline.co.nz/marlborough/information/commentary/best-short-bike-rides-in-marlborough/

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