And the dog came too... dog walks in New Zealand
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Kaikoura Trail

An easy amble along an extensive cycleway

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Kaikoura Trail

Name
Kailoura Trail
Location
Kaikoura
Co-ordinates
1655254  5304180
Alternative co-ordinates
 
Configuration
Loop
Distance
48 km
Status
On-leash
Grade
Easy
Access
Various access points. A good option is Lions Reserve on the south side of South Bay Road which gives access to the lengthy southern part of the trail. 
Description
A shared loop cycleway around Kaikoura. Some of it is on quiet roads, and not quite all is dog-friendly, but there's a lengthy section in the south leading to, and alongside, the Kowhai River and finishing at Kowhai Ford Road junction. There's also a nice section to the north, which takes in some country tracks and lanes. Definitely worth exploring.
Connecting tracks
Ka Whata Tu o Rakihouia Conservation Park
Further information
https://www.kaikoura.co.nz/assets/KAIKOURA-TRAIL-MAP-AND-DESCRIPTION.pdf
Dog-friendly walks around Kaikoura are at a premium, because most of the Kaikora Peninsula is out of bounds. Things have got worse since the Kaikoura earthquake, because the good, hill-land walks further north at Moonlight Bay and Okiwi Bay are inaccessible due to the combination of earthquake damage and roadworks. Mount Fyffe is a good option, but is rather steep.So if you want something easier (but somewhat less interesting) the Kaikoura Trail is probably your best option.

You can pick this up at various places, including near the i-site in town and at the junction of SH1 and South Bay Road, just on the western margins. But if you want to avoid the busier and more engineered parts of the track, a good starting point is opposite the golf course on SH1. 

Like many other riverside walks in New Zealand, this one contains some scruffy areas, mainly where the cycleway crosses gravel roads used by trucks for things industrial or by the local yobs (an old-fashioned word that my dad would have used, but unsurpassed by any more recent terms to describe the species) to do what yobs do best. But the cycleway is well-made and pleasant to walk on. It's simple, unengineered, winding and narrow, so that - an occasional trial-bike rider excepted - there are no vehicles to contend with. And along much of the way, though the river is out of sight, the riverside vegetation hasd regenerated nicely, and gives good shade, botanical interest and lots of birdsong. And you can walk pretty-well as far you like. The riverside section runs for about 5 km before it turns right along Postman's Road and then proceeds, mainly by small back-roads, until it reaches the Hapuku River, some 8 km north-east. There, though, there's another pleasant 3 km section through riparian scrub and along the tiny Lover's Lane, back towards the sea. So you can choose which bits you want to walk, and look forwaard to the other tracks in the area being opened when all the work on SH1 is done.


If you've found this website helpful, you might also want to look at some of my novels and poetry. These, like my dog-walking, are drawn from a love of nature and the countryside. To learn more, click here.