New Zealand's Best Autumn Bike Rides

Fittingly, first port of call is Waitangi Mountain Bike Park in the Waitangi Endowment Forest, where the Focus Paihia Community Trust has created 40km of trails (30km more on their way). It's the perfect introduction to mountain biking with 30 trails catering to all levels of ability – and those Bay of Islands views, too.

Just 30 minutes northwest of downtown Auckland, Riverhead Forest has a network – maybe a spiderweb – of 301 trails (101 e-bike) criss-crossing the vast pine forest. Maintained by the West Coast Riders Club, who are constantly building more routes through the trees, it's recommended beginners start on the pump track to develop skills to conquer more challenging trails.

Cross-country trails at Ride Coromandel Bike Park are intermediate-grade, single-trail, one-way loop tracks through the forest on the Kauri Block above Coromandel town. Ara Tuatahi is about 5.5km, Rickers Return about 1.8 km.

Te Miro Mountain Bike Park, 20 minutes northeast of Cambridge, is one of Waikato's newer mountain biking areas with a variety of terrain and tracks to suit active families and hardcore enthusiasts. Trails such as Big Red, Ready or Not and Kaimai Kurla feature technical single-track sections and steep downhills, large sweeping berms or lakeside trails. Native and exotic forest surrounds the trails.

Rotorua's Redwoods trails are renowned as a premier riding destination, with good reason: its 150km network is a paradigm of continually evolving, master-crafted tracks and scenery. Some 90km south, Whirinaki Forest was the scene of one of New Zealand's fiercest conservation battles, the home of ancient trees that date back to dinosaur days. Combined with rushing rivers, ferns and birdlife, the forest is now an outdoors playground featuring the Whirinaki Forest Mountain Bike Track. Designed for the eco mountain bike rider, the 16km track requires a medium fitness and skill level.

Taupo's W2K Trail is part of the Whakaipo Section of the Great Lake Trails, taking riders through bush with views across Lake Taupō towards Kinloch, one of our most beautiful lakeside villages.

Tairāwhiti Gisborne offers a ride through Eastwoodhill, over 131ha of exotic and native trees, shrubs and climbers. Cycle Gisborne offers transport to the trees from the city for a ride that begins with the exhilarating Ngātapa Hill downhill and winds back to Gisborne past vineyards and wineries.

For a truly epic ride, Kōpiko Aotearoa is the coast-to-coast trek from East Cape in Tairāwhiti to Cape Egmont in Taranaki. The 1000km trek can begin at either coast takes cyclists through the Timber Trail and Forgotten World Highway Heartland rides.

On its own, the Timber Trail is renowned as one of the best country's two-day wilderness rides, following historic tramways through ancient Pureora Forest Park. Stretching 85km between Pureora village and the old logging town of Ōngarue, the trail winds through giant rimu, tōtara and kahikatea.

Pan Pac Mountain Bike Park, 10 minutes north of Napier, is the home of Hawke's Bay Mountain Bike Club (visitor permit needed). There's something for everyone in the 78km purpose-built downhill, cross-country, freeride tracks and gently rolling trails, connected by wide, smooth forestry roads over 1200ha of park. Trails range from Grade 1-5.

Lake Mangamahoe is Taranaki's premium forest biking destination with 45km of tracks from Grades 1-6, with purpose-built downhill and cross-country trails set among Mangamahoe Forest. Recommended: Twisted Sister and Slam City trails.

That Place is a 50ha private park for adrenaline-seeking bikers 30 minutes north of Whanganui, with a range of intermediate to advanced trails and a flat loop for beginners. The park offers guiding and coaching.

Formerly known as K-Loop, Arapuke Forest Park is Manawatū's top destination - over 30km of trails across all grades in a growing network designed for four-season riding. Easy to find: it's on Palmerston North's back doorstep.

Accessible from Wairarapa or Wellington, Remutaka Forest Park encompasses 22,000ha of hills and forest. Built in 1878, the railway line between the Hutt Valley and Featherston is now a gently graded 18km ride, its historic train tracks, bridges and tunnels ideal for families.

Torre dos Clérigos. The most iconic and visible of Porto's many Baroque buildings.

Ponte Luiz I. A cast iron bridge in the middle of Porto's old town. Look familiar? It was designed by a disciple of Gustave Eiffel.

Bike through lush coastal forest, climb two saddles, cross farmland and drop down to the sea's edge on Marlborough Sounds' Nydia Bay Track, a 27km single-track ride for experienced riders "who like a challenge" - big climbs, fast downhills, rugged tree roots and breathtaking views.

Silvan Forest Mountainbike Park's 170ha of private forest is quickly becoming one of Nelson's favourite riding areas. With a core network of fun, safe trails and well-graded single-track climbing trails, there are also plenty of thrilling long-run downhill options.

You can hardly see the track for the trees on some sections of the West Coast Wilderness Trail, winding through ancient forests, alongside rugged shorelines, surging rivers and moody lakes. It's a smooth, Grade 2 trail (e-bike friendly) so there's no tricky technical riding on the 133km trail. You can complete the trail in either direction, but guided tours usually start in Ross and travel north to Greymouth.

The forests around Hanmer Springs township have more than 70km of trails ranked from easy to challenging. A must-do is Easy Rider, circumnavigating much of the Heritage Forest. Good for families, it's a 6km, single track through exotic trees, the test-bed for their commercial viability.

Lake Tekapo Regional Park is made up of 165ha of forested land along the waterway's eastern shores. You can ride there from the village to enjoy 24km of tracks graded easiest, easy and intermediate. All are two-way and there's a pump track for children and adults to test their skills.

Less than 2km from Wānaka's  lakefront, Sticky Forest is a 30km network of purpose-built trails perfect for those who like to kick off their ride with strong coffee and chase it with a cold beer. Locals say there are rides for all tastes: leisurely cruises or white-knuckle downhills with insane drops and jumps.

Queenstown ranks with Rotorua as a premier riding destination: the vibrant biker community has all but taken over the southern flanks of Bob's Peak, 500m above the town (get there by gondola), creating 28 world-class trails in a 30km network that winds, drops, swoops and flies through the trees. There are plenty of gnarly trails for advanced and expert riders but it's not the best place for beginners to be set loose.

South of Oamaru, the Herbert Forest is a privately owned commercial plantation. The owners have granted access to Mountain Biking North Otago, who've built a 10km intermediate-grade loop that features a mix of gravel forest roads and hand-built single-track – with a 5km single-track descent, dropping the rider 360 vertical metres on the way home.

Dunedin-ites – and not a few others – reckon the city's Signal Hill is New Zealand's best downhill track, a beast with rock gardens, jump lines, ruts and steep sections. Big Easy is a favourite, a 6km trail built so most riders will reach the hill's lookout without realising they've been climbing, winding through native bush, finishing with an exhilarating descent. Beginners should try the easy, bush-clad Wakari Creek Tracks.

Lake2Lake Cycle trail is a 32km Grade 2 track connecting Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau, perfect for the family, with optional extras like crossing wobbly swing bridges and stepping on to the famed Kepler Track for 5 minutes of forest bathing.

Southland's 47km, Grade 2-3 Bald Hill track climbs through Longwood Forest to the hilltop - one of the province's best lookout points – for views from the plains to Fiordland and Stewart Island.