Great Trail success: The Lake Dunstan's ambitious engineering has attracted cyclists from around New Zealand. Photo / Central Otago, Supplied
Great Trail success: The Lake Dunstan's ambitious engineering has attracted cyclists from around New Zealand. Photo / Central Otago, Supplied
After a hugely successfully first year, The Lake Dunstan Trail has been awarded Great Ride Status.
Since opening to cyclists on the 8th May 2021 the cycling route between Cromwell and Clyde has welcomed tens of thousands of bikers.
It becomes the 23rd trail on the New Zealand wide network of Great Rides, alongside the new Whakarewarewa Forest Loop in Rotorua.
As the first new routes to join the network in over a decade, they have been a post-pandemic success, running close to capacity.
Over 80000 riders have ridden the Dunstan trail since it opened, with as many as 12000 cyclists recorded in January alone. The trail is already ahead of five-year rider targets, set at opening.
"The expansion of the trails comes at the perfect time," said Tourism Minister Stuart Nash as the country welcomes back international tourism.
Over 80,000 cyclists have been over the Dunstan Trail in the first year. Photo / Central Otago, Supplied
"Joining the network opens the door to new funding, branding, research and marketing opportunities for the cycle trails."
Great Rides' status will not only raise the profile of the track but open up more funding for trail maintenance. The trail will be eligible for an additional $45,000 in support, plus access to a pool of $1million to help with track maintenance.
This will help keep the trail open and free to access to riders year-round.
The Dunstan Trail is the first step in an ambitious five-part project by Central Otago Queenstown Trail Network Trust.
Securing the Dunstan Trail's Great Ride status was a "significant achievement" said Trust chair, Stephen Jeffery. "Our Trust committee have been staggered by the trail user numbers."
The Trust is currently planning to link the region's existing Great Rides - including the Roxburgh Gorge Trail and Queenstown Trail - into a network stretching from Wanaka to Queenstown.
Diccon Sim, Otago Community Trust chair, says the success of Dunstan Trail "foreshadows what an incredible regional asset the network will become."
View from the trail: Dunstan Trail's first year
For those riding and running cycle hire on the trail the success of the ride has been impossible to miss. Cromwell and Clyde's fleet of rental bikes were booked out for Easter a month in advance.
"It's become all year round. There's not been three days when we haven't been full," says local cycle hire operator Lisa Joyce of Bike it Now.
The only thing more of a surprise than the crowds on the trail, was the breathtaking engineering over the Clutha River. Suspended boardwalks hanging off the cliff face and severe Otago landscape make it a dramatic ride.
The Lake Dunstan trail is New Zealand's newest Great Ride. Photo / Central Otago, Supplied
Shortly after opening it was upgraded from an "easy" grade 1 to a 2-3 intermediate.
"The fact it's held up and kept businesses running all year round says a lot about the quality," says Lisa.
"On a lot of occasions we've had to ask 'do you know what you're getting into'," she says, particularly on E-bikes.
80 per cent of riders are looking for battery-powered 'pedal assist' to take them around the trail.
Based out of Clyde and Cromwell, the fleet at Bike it Now is almost flat out. An additional 70 E-bikes by the end of the year, to bring their hire business to almost 300 bikes.
"It's been our busiest season on Roxburgh. We have a lot of people trying to book, hire operators have just had to say 'No'."
Her advice is to plan well ahead and don't forget about the other Great Trails in the area.
While there isn't much more space on the Clutha River, particularly at narrow bottlenecks on the two-way track, the plan to expand the Otago cycling network means that many cycle companies are expecting big things.
The company will be opening a new store in Wanaka by the end of June.
The extension of the network through Luggate and towards Wānaka is expected to be announced by the end of the year and the Cromwell to Queenstown link has already broken ground over its first three kilometres.
At the other end of the Kawarau Gorge the Queenstown Trail Trust's CEO Mark 'Willy' Williams can't wait for the trails to join up.
"This will be another huge boost to the network, with the possibility of riding offroad all the way to Dunedin in the not-to-distant future," he says.
Although the Dunstan trail has grown faster than expected, Willy says it's a "new kind of 'slower' and more sustainable tourism" that domestic and international visitors are looking for.
The freewheeling Central Otago Queenstown Trail is a project that is still gathering momentum.
