Mountain Bike Trails in Arapuke Forest

About Time

A predominantly downhill flowing trail with lots of berms and a smooth surface that's fun for all the family. Running from the summit of the park this trail has has a few incarnations over the years. The berms and rollers make for great times and make About Time a great trail to get those skills dialed in on. There is even a bridge thrown into the mix to keep you on your toes the whole way down to where it meets Ice Breaker. Keep your eyes out, at the mid point of the trail in branches. There is the option to continue on About Time to Ice Breaker, or you can split off and take a short trail section to Container Hub. This is good for riders who wish to go straight into Mr. Twister.

Back Track

The old classic A two way trail open to bikers and walkers only, be aware of oncoming bikers and particularly in Summer, there are lots of walkers passing through as it is part of the Te Araroa National Walkway. This is the main access trail for the park leading you up to Pūpū Rahi around 900m from the start. The trail is a nice uphill climb to the Scotts Rd carpark, the surface is rocky and there are 4 creek crossings on the way up which can make your feet wet if there has been a lot of rain. The first part climbs through a gully of native bush before opening out above farmland which gives a nice view back to where you started, this is a good spot to take a breather on the seat kindly provided by the PN City Council. The second half of the track sidles around the hill steadily gaining elevation. This part of the track has a fun short downhill section before the last climb to the top. Back track is only open to bikers and walkers but it is occasionally used by farm and council vehicles. Backtrack is an old paper road that is part of the Te Araroa Walkway which has reverted back to a nice natural 4wd drive road climb through native bush.

Billy Goat

A steep and technical uphill that winds up the valley below Rocky then turns sharply and follows an old skidder track up a spur to a 4WD track that takes you back up to the Container Hub.

Check Point Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie is a mid level “catch” track that runs from the lower trail hub right across to Eastern Bloc on the far side of the park. This is a shared use 2 way trail that primarily is there to bring walkers across the park avoiding our MTB trails, there will frequently be walkers on it as it is part of the Sledge Track loop, please be courteous to other users and keep your speed under control. The main function of Checkpoint Charlie for us is to enable access into and out of trails, as the park grows and more trails are built, loops will be able to be created without dropping right to the bottom of the hill on every run. Very steep in parts, it is not an ideal way to traverse the park but for keen riders it will provide a challenge to ride the whole way through it.

Chewbacca

Chewbacca is a challenging, technical trail. It is steep and gets even more difficult in the wet Chewbacca is hand cut single track, built by Empire of Dirt in 2018. Everything is rollable, but you certainly need your bike handling and brake control dialed. Great example of a modern MTB trail / enduro ride. The trail starts at the Park Summit and continues down to Te Ara Kaikohi at the bottom. There is also the option to cut out at the half way mark, which will take you onto Check Point Charlie. This is a good option for those looking to lap the top half of the park or wanting to lap out to the Shuttle.

Chili Beans

This is a challenging, grade 4 climb which is an alternative to Jack and the Beanstalk.

Decompression

If The Bends is getting to you, you may need to decompress. Take this trail for quick access to the Shuttle Pickup. This short climbing trail branches off The Bends and connects onto Mr. Twister just before the Shuttle Pickup.

Foo Fighter

Foo Fighter - mysterious flying objects A short but fun jumps trail mixed with all sorts of jumps, lumps and bumps. Everything on the trail is roll-able, there are no compulsory gaps or drops. However, like any jumps trail, if you pick up speed be prepared to catch some airtime! The important thing is to know how to land safely ;-)

Humpty Jumpty

Humpty Jumpty was designed to give riders an introduction to air time. A couple of rollers beside the road to warm you up lead you into a steepish descending right hand berm, swoop through the next 3 berms and down to the first table top. All of the jumps are well formed and allow you to go as fast or slow as you like to practice your style down to the Culvert Hub. From the Culvert Hub you can head into lower Rhythm and Vines or Kissing Rock to carry on the bottom of the hill or head into Checkpoint Charlie to take you back up the hill to do it all again.

Ice Breaker

In 2012 there was a major amount of harvesting of the area previously know as Woodpecker Forest. Working in partnership with PNCC, the Manawatu Mountain Bike Club contracted JB Ware to cut and shape the trail to our specification. The one way trail traverses a mainly flat area beside the pond out to the eastern boundary and then starts to descend through a series of bermed corners towards Rambo Gully before turning back to the pond and crossing the dam. The trail then gently climbs above the pond and alongside Arapuke Rd. Ice Breaker continues onto Riff Raff or exits onto the road. Formerly known as Jack Frost.

Icebreaker Link

A short, easy connector between the fern pond and the Scott's Rd car park.

Jack And The Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk is a meandering, well-graded uphill trail that offers great views back down Kahuterawa valley. It winds its way via switchbacks and stream crossings till the crossing of Farside Rd. Once across Farside Rd the trail has continues back into new growth forest as it continues alongside Arapuke Rd up to the top of the park. Once at the top treat yourself to a stop to get your breath and enjoy the view back to Palmerston North.

Jack and the Beanstalk (Hard)

Jack's Link

Links Jack and The Beanstalk and Arapuke Rd near the container area.

Jumping Jack

Jumping Jack follows the old downhill trail built in 2013 by some of our young lads who wanted a trail of berms and jumps. Accessed from the start of Mr Twister it sweeps its way down the hill beside Zig Zag Road with big corners and jumps. All the jumps in the top section have been filled in and are table tops, from the drop down to the bridge it is all new trail, built in 2016 by Southstar Trails. Fun little doubles and berms all the way to its exit on to the road make this trail a must for anyone who like their wheels up. None of the jumps are nasty and can all be cleared with a moderate trail speed, keep on your toes though as the gap over the drain is now back and can sneak up on you, there is an alternative line around it if you aren't keen.

Kissing Rock

This is a Grade 6 technical trail, although the whole trail has been designed to be rollable, we would suggest scouting some of the more technical features before attempting them. There are effectively 3 parts to Kissing Rock, each getting more and more technical as the hill gets steeper. The trail starts opposite the Culvert Hub. A couple of technical log roll overs get you warmed up before you cross Zig Zag Road and briefly merge with Mr. Twister. You need to take a sharp left turn at the top of the rise to continue on Kissing Rock. This will take you into the first of many technical chutes. The trail pops up off the road then drops down to the right with quite a steep roll in. Be aware This needs to be looked at if its your first time down as it is a steep rock berm to rock chute. What follows is a smorgasbord of log drops, steep roll-ins and short technical sections. Eventually you will swoop down a big open section that merges once again with Mr. Twister. If you stay straight ahead you will swoop up a hill and come to the Shuttle Pick up bay. If you want to continue on Kissing Rock and head to the bottom of the hill you will need to take a right hand turn about half way up the hill to the shuttle. This is the continuation of Kissing Rock lower section. If you thought the top was a little tricky, the bottom only gets harder! The 2nd section between the Shuttle Bay and the next Road crossing (Zig Zag Rd.) has some extended steep sections that can be quite tricky when wet, with plenty of wet roots and slippery clay surface to catch you out. If that wasn't bad enough, in the dry its pretty fast and furious. Then you cross Zig Zag Rd. For a second time and head into the 3rd and final section of Kissing Rock which will test your nerve even more. It is probably wise to have a look at some of these features before riding as they have fairly high consequence if done wrong. Drop in off the road to a gentle warm up around to a technical rock garden, then a descending left turn that is pretty tricky will lead you to the Kissing Rock! A monster rock that was found while scouting this trail out is now a centre piece of the trail. Watch your speed as roll in as it is STEEP and has quite a compressed g-out at the bottom! Once down this the trail continues with more rock gardens and a couple more tight descending turns as you traverse the hill dropping to one last big rock roll before exiting on to the bottom of Zig Zag Road just above the bridge.

Kissing Rock Link

Link trail from the shuttle drop into Kissing Rock.

Kāhu

Kārearea

This trail is a good honest Grade 3. It is tight and twisty hand cut single track but good riders will maintain great flow all the way down. A trail that rewards good pump and cornering technique. Riders can ride all the way to the bottom an join into Te Ara Kaikohi, or they can cut out at the half way point onto Check Point Charlie. This is a good option for riders who are looking to lap the top half of the park or connect back over to the Shuttle service. Trail was built by Trail Pro in 2018.

Mind the Gap