Centre of New Zealand

Time : Fitness : Technical : Various Moderate Easy Waypoint 1  S41 16.436  E173 17.781    Main Entrance to walking tracks Waypoint 2  S41 16.549  E173 17.982    Road to top Entrance Waypoint 3  S41 16.448  E173 18.082    Branford Park Entrance Waypoint 4  S41 16.296  E173 18.403    Carpark Entrance Waypoint 5  S41 16.308  E173 17.959    Track Hub on Saddle    Waypoint 6  S41 15.716  E173 18.114    Top of Walters Bluff Track    Waypoint 7  S41 15.760  E173 17.871    Exit from Walters Bluff    Waypoint 8  S41 15.000  E173 18.970    Exit at Atawhai    There are a lot of tracks on the Center of New Zealand hill, some of which are available for MTB use. Generally speaking all of the front Nelson side tracks are out of bounds to MTB during the day as there are a lot of walkers and small dogs to upset. Riding them at night does not seem to be a problem though. The Center of New Zealand is generally used as an access way to two other tracks, the Walters Bluff track and the Ridgeline track to Atawhai. There are several ways to the "Hub" on the saddle where all the tracks meet up. The suggested way is to find your way up Nile street and turn off into the Maitai Valley and find the Entrance at the start of Branford Park which is marked as 3 on the map. From here ride up the track going straight at the first intersection around the hill rather than up it. At the next intersection that goes off to the right and down, go left and up and carry on a short distance to another intersection. From here go left and follow the track all the way up to the hub at point 5 on the map. Alternatively you can go up the road which starts at point 2 on the map though this is steep in places. Once at the hub go north up to the gate and over the gate. At this point you can choose to go left and do the shorter Walters Bluff track Or climb to your right up to the TV transmitter and do the ridgeline track. The Ridgeline is easy to follow and you end up coming down through the suburbs to the main highway and back into town. The Walters Bluff track takes you around through the sheep track to a gate. Go over the gate and climb up through some trees to a place where there is a gate to your right. Go left down the track, but turn left a short distance down to go down the zig zag track. Alternatively go straight down to the road and down the road to the bottom.