The Tickler Mountain Bike Trail

The Tickler has a fast section at the start, dropping down to the creek. This section was revised in September 2012, to bypass the original entrance section. This was technical and suffered from rain and braking ruts making it harder than the grade 3 designation of the trail. Shortly after the creek crossing there is a short but tricky pinch climb to a clearing with a few of the remaining Californian Redwoods from the orignal stand of forest. Take a moment here and keep your eyes and ears open. One of the NZ native falcons released in 2013 has been making itself at home in this area.The next stage follows the profile and style of the original trail which was lost in the 2011 harvesting activity. It is a gradual climb from the stand of Redwoods – no steep sections, just a gradual climb that winds its way up. Normally handles wet weather well. The occasional hard frost in the middle of winter can make it slippery as the frozen surface softens during the day.