Where: 15-20 min ride from Wellington CBD/Switched on Bikes
Time: 1.5-4 hours, depending on how far you go.
Who: Intermediate mountainbikers or confident cyclists who are already comfortable on roads, narrow trails and big hills.
Difficulty: Grade 3. Narrow trails requiring balance and good bike handling. Climb around 45 min – 1.5 hrs at mostly gentle gradients with some briefly steeper bursts which demand standing on the pedals and pushing hard around tight corners. Descent on well graded single-width trail with good traction, some small trail obstacles, and optional steep sections.
Features: Spectacular views, flora and fauna, great riding, an enormous wind turbine.
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Polhill Reserve Mountain Bike Trails
Where To Ride February 2, 2022 - Home
- Where To Ride
- Polhill Reserve Mountain Bike Trails
Spectacular innercity wilderness mountainbike adventure for intermediate to expert mountainbikers, on superb trails.
Winding through beautiful regenerating native forest just 15 minutes ride from the Wellington CBD, with rare birdlife from Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary, some of the most spectacular views of Wellington you’ll find anywhere and right next to the award winning Garage Project brewery; we think Polhill trails are among the most awesomest, most funnest and bestest intermediate grade mountain bike rides that NZ has to offer.
Directons to the trail: From Switched on Bikes, cross the big road (Jervois Quay) and post-office square. Turn left (Customhouse) and left again immediately on to Hunter Street, which curves right and becomes Victoria Street. Continue up until you reach Abel Smith Street and turn right either on your bike or using the pedestrian crossing. From here you will need to cross two busy roads, Karo Drive and Willis Street, to get to Aro Street. We recommend walking your bike across pedestrian crossings and footpaths until you reach Aro. Continue gently climbing up Aro Street, past the shops, until after a couple of bends you see the entrance to Polhill reserve in a grassy park on the left, signposted by a brown sign. The entrance to the main trail, called ‘Transient’ is at the back of the grassy clearing.
Directions on the trail: Begin riding up Transient. This is a two-way trail for walkers and cyclists so be ready to let people past and say a friendly hello! Continue uphill and follow signs for ‘Transient’ and ‘Brooklyn Wind Turbine’. When Transient finally ends, you come out on a suburban street. Turn right to the big wide trail with more signposts for bikers to the wind turbine. Keep following this and you will hit the predator-proof fence (called Fenceline). Follow the fence uphill until you hit a road with a crossing point for cyclists. On the other side you’ll see two trails, the lower one ‘Windmill’ you should take, the higher one is the exit to the downhill-only way back down so do not go up there. At the end of Windmill follow signs to the wind turbine until you emerge at, the wind turbine! After you’ve checked out the view and the renewable energy infrastructure, if you feel like riding further up continue along the ridgeline on ‘Car Parts Extension’ and then ‘Barking Emu’, or head back down now via Car Parts (not Car Parts Extension). You can ride most of the way down on downhill only trails but you will spend some time on Transient, where you’ll need to take blind corners very slowly because you could meet someone coming uphill. Take a look at the trail map we provide, or check the Trailforks app for the downhill-only trails called Car Parts, Ikigai, and Serendipity. All of these trails are grade 3, the same as the uphill, except Serendipity which is the last one near the bottom. Only ride Serendipity if you feel comfortable on all the other trails and want something harder. Don’t forget to swing past Garage Project on Aro street for a beer on your way home!
Other Notes:
- Two way tracks must be treated with caution, let rip on downhill-only sections.
- Thanks again to the dedicated volunteers at Brooklyn Trail Builders and Wellington Mountain Bike Club for this incredible ride!
- If you loved the ride, consider donating to the Wellington Mountain Bike Club. They build awesome trails, plant trees and trap pests.
Switched on Bikes hires high-quality electric and acoustic hard tail and full suspension mountain bikes. We can get you sorted with all the gear and advice you need to get riding.