Skip to content
A gravel road winding through tawny hills studded with schist near Alexandra, Central Otago

Sample journey · 7–9 days

Central Otago by bike: the Rail Trail through gold-rush country

Dunedin, the Taieri Gorge, Middlemarch, Ranfurly, Ophir & Clyde

Photo: Tonia Kraakman / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Other New Zealand journeys travel by car or on foot along mountain tracks. This one goes by bike, and very gently. The Otago Central Rail Trail follows a former railway line from Middlemarch to Clyde, around 150 kilometres across the wide Maniototo and Ida valleys. Because steam engines couldn't manage steep climbs, the gradients are easy, and the route runs over old bridges, through tunnels and into small towns that grew up in the nineteenth-century gold rush and still look much as they did.

The journey begins in Dunedin and with the train through the Taieri Gorge, and ends by Lake Dunstan and in Queenstown. It suits families with older children, friends and anyone who wants an active holiday without great demands: each day covers 25 to 40 kilometres, mostly on gravel, and e-bikes help against the wind. Your bags travel by car, and the stays are simple rooms in old country hotels, farm cottages and guesthouses whose hosts know every story along the trail.

The route

The journey

  1. Dunedin
  2. Taieri Gorge
  3. Middlemarch
  4. Hyde
  5. Ranfurly
  6. Oturehua
  7. Ophir & Lauder
  8. Clyde
  9. Cromwell
  10. Queenstown
  1. An excursion train waiting for passengers at the old Victorian railway station in Dunedin

    01Days 1–2 · Dunedin & the Taieri Gorge

    By train into the uplands

    One night in Dunedin, enough for a walk through the centre of this Scottish-flavoured city and a rest after the flight. The next morning the journey begins at the ornate Victorian railway station: an excursion train climbs the Taieri Gorge over tall iron viaducts and through tunnels cut in the late nineteenth century, when this line was the road to the goldfields. Through the windows, sheer rock walls and the river far below, and at the top of the gorge the wide, tawny uplands of the Strath Taieri open out. The train's route depends on the season, so the last stretch to Middlemarch may be by road. There, the bikes are waiting, along with a short practice ride and a first night in a country guesthouse.

  2. An old farm shed beneath the Milky Way at night in Waipiata, on the Maniototo plain

    02Days 2–5 · Middlemarch to Ranfurly

    The first miles and the first tunnel

    The first day on the trail is about 27 kilometres to Hyde, climbing gently through the Strath Taieri valley. On the way, the Price's Creek tunnel, dark without a torch, and the Hyde Gorge with its old stone bridges. In Hyde, a night in an old country hotel. The next day it's about 35 kilometres out onto the wide Maniototo plain, with the Kakanui and Rough Ridge ranges on the horizon. Two nights in Ranfurly, rebuilt in Art Deco style after a series of fires. On a free afternoon it's worth riding to Naseby, an old gold-mining village among pines, which also has an indoor curling rink: for children, an unexpected highlight. At night the Maniototo sky is so dark that the Milky Way is plain to the naked eye.

  3. A small hut among the tussock, seen through a gap in the schist rocks near Poolburn

    03Days 5–7 · The Ida Valley & the Poolburn Gorge

    Over viaducts, through tunnels

    From Ranfurly it's about 30 kilometres to Oturehua in the small Ida Valley, over the highest point of the whole trail. On the way, the winter ponds where outdoor curling matches were once held, and in Oturehua an early twentieth-century general store where time seems to have stopped, and the old engineering works that invented the wire strainers farmers still swear by. A night in a farm cottage. The next day brings the finest stretch of the trail: the Poolburn Gorge, where the route passes through two tunnels and over tall viaducts above a rocky creek, while the schist all around turns gold in the light. In the evening, Ophir, perhaps the best preserved of the gold-rush villages, with its long-serving post office and quiet lanes. One night here.

  4. Tawny hills scattered with schist tors beneath low cloud near Alexandra

    04Days 7–8 · Ophir to Clyde

    The last day on the trail

    The last and longest day is around 40 kilometres to Clyde, but most of it runs gently downhill. The trail follows the Manuherikia Valley between irrigated pasture and dry, schist-strewn hills, the very country where the miners' camps once flourished. On the way it's worth stopping in Alexandra for lunch and a walk by the Clutha River, and if legs are tired, part of the way can be done by car. The trail ends at the old Clyde station, where the bikes are handed back and a night in a historic stone house awaits. In the evening, dinner with a Central Otago Pinot Noir and a walk to the dam that, in the late twentieth century, flooded the river and drowned part of the old goldfields.

  5. Snow-dusted Mount Pisa reflected in the calm water of Lake Dunstan

    05Days 8–9 · Cromwell & Queenstown

    By Lake Dunstan

    About twenty minutes to Cromwell, where the old town's buildings, forges, bakeries and stores taken down before the river was dammed, have been rebuilt on the shore of Lake Dunstan. The morning here is slow: coffee, a walk by the water and, in season, an orchard where you can pick cherries or apricots in summer. Anyone not yet tired of the saddle can ride part of the newer trail along the lake. In the afternoon, roughly an hour through the Kawarau Gorge to Queenstown and either a final night by Lake Wakatipu or straight to the flight home. With energy and time to spare, Queenstown is a good base for a few more days in the mountains.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    The Taieri Gorge train

    Viaducts and tunnels on the old line to the goldfields: the journey's prologue through a window.

  2. 02

    The Poolburn Gorge

    Two tunnels and tall viaducts: the loveliest stretch of the whole trail.

  3. 03

    Gold-rush villages

    The verandas of Hyde, Ophir and Oturehua, an old general store and a post office where time stands still.

  4. 04

    The Maniototo sky

    Dark nights when the Milky Way is plain to the naked eye.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Slower or shorter

    With younger children the days can be cut to 20 kilometres with an extra night added, while those who want more pace can ride the trail in three days.

  • As a family

    For children, curling in Naseby, torches in the tunnels and fruit-picking in Cromwell; trailers and child seats are usually available.

  • In another season

    In autumn the poplars and vineyards turn gold, and in spring the fields are in flower; summer is hot in the valleys, so we ride early.

  • With Fiordland or the southern coast

    From Queenstown it's natural to continue into Fiordland, and a few days on the Otago Peninsula can be added at the start in Dunedin.

Practical considerations

  • The easiest time is roughly October to April. Central Otago is one of the driest parts of the country: summer days are hot and nights cool, and autumn is often the most settled season. The trail stays open in winter, but it's cold and some places to stay close.
  • The trail is mostly wide gravel with gentle gradients, though the valley wind sometimes blows head-on; e-bikes solve that. We check current bike-hire and luggage-transfer arrangements before you travel.
  • The Taieri Gorge train doesn't run every day and its route depends on the season; we'd match it to your dates.
  • Services along the way are few, so we carry water and snacks, and a torch is handy in the tunnels.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

Keep exploring

Destinations

Ways to travel

Related articles

More journey inspiration

Plan your journey

Shape a journey like this

Would you like to get to know Central Otago from the saddle? Tell us who you're travelling with and how many kilometres a day feels comfortable, and we'll shape the route together.

Shape a journey like this

This journey becomes the starting point of your enquiry — you can change or remove it.

All journey inspiration