Hauraki Rail Trail

MetService New Zealand have advised of an 🍊 heavy rain warning for Coromandel Peninsula valid today (Saturday 29 August) from 10am - 3am Sunday (30 August). Please be mindful of rising waters in our rivers. More details available below.

***Update 30 August, 10.23am, . All warnings now lifted. Have a super duper Sunday.***

Gumboots and raincoats! That’s what’s on order for some parts of Waikato over the weekend. 🌧️ ☔️

Our mates at MetService New Zealand have advised of an 🍊 heavy rain warning for Coromandel Peninsula valid today (Saturday 29 August)from 10am - 3am Sunday (30 August).

Expect 70-100mm of rain - possibly more in localised downpours.

There’s a bit of time to clear your gutters.

Things to remember!

👉🏽 Streams and rivers may rise rapidly.
👉🏽 Surface flooding and slips may be possible.
👉🏽 If you see flooding - DO NOT attempt to drive, swim, or walk through it.

Learn more 👉🏽
www.metservice.com/warnings.
You can also download their app and get notifications direct to your phone. 📱

Seen through time: Karangahake Gorge 🌿🚲

A few days ago, we shared a wonderful early photograph of a woman with her camera in the rugged Karangahake Gorge. Today, we're looking at the Gorge from a rather different perspective - from behind the wheel.

For generations, Karangahake was a formidable barrier between the goldfields and the communities beyond. Getting people, supplies and mining equipment through the Gorge was no easy business.

From 1889, an eight-year project blasted a road through the solid rock, creating a level route where previously there had been a steep, often impassable road. Even then, the new road was narrow enough for only one-way traffic.

Then, during the Depression of the 1930s, relief workers returned to the Gorge to widen and seal the road. This photograph captures that work in progress, a little car making its way through a landscape that was still very much being shaped by human hands.

Today, the same dramatic walls and river still frame the Hauraki Rail Trail as it winds through Karangahake Gorge. The journey is considerably easier these days, but the sense of passing through somewhere hard-won remains.

Look closely at the photograph. The road, the rock face, the tiny car, and the enormous landscape around it. It's a wonderful reminder that the route we enjoy today has quite a story beneath our wheels.

Photo: Historical photograph, 1930s, Karangahake Gorge
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/

Look closely. There’s a whole story beneath your wheels. Karangahake Gorge has always been a place of drama - steep rock walls, rushing water, railway lines and the extraordinary engineering that once powered the mines. This beautiful photograph, taken in the early 1900s by Frank Evans, captures a woman (probably Jessie Kitching), standing among the pipes that once carried power to the mines, camera and tripod in hand. More than a century later, the Hauraki Rail Trail follows this remarkable corridor through the Gorge, giving today’s riders a chance to experience the same landscape from a very different perspective.

So next time you ride through Karangahake, slow down for a moment. Look up at the rock walls. Look along the old railway. Look closely at the traces of the people, machinery and ingenuity that shaped this place. The landscape is beautiful and the story beneath it even better.

Photo credit: Frank Evans, 1900s
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1826-062
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/

This Father’s Day, forget the rush, the “what are we doing today?” and just get out there together.

A little one riding shotgun.
A dad towing the trailer.
A grandad keeping pace.
A grown-up son or daughter riding beside the man who taught them how to ride.

Because some of the best days on the Trail aren’t really about how far you go. They’re about the conversations you have, the laughs along the way, the coffee stop you didn’t plan, and having a whole day to simply be together.

Here’s to dads, grandads, stepdads, father figures, new dads, old dads, and all the people who have helped us find our way.

This Father’s Day, give him something better than stuff. Give him a day together. 🚲💛
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/

PLEASE HELP US ...A whopping 500 trail surveys must be completed each year by our Trail users for us to access essential maintenance funding. Please help us stay on track by completing our NEW SURVEY - just click or paste the link below. It's quick, confidential and you'll go in the draw to win great prizes. 🚴 ☺️ 🙏 💚
www.getsmartglobal.com/haurakirailtrail
Photo credit:

What you might hear on the Hauraki Rail Trail… 🎧🚲

The rumble of a train.

Water tumbling from Owharoa Falls.

A tūī somewhere overhead.

Bike tyres humming along the Trail.

Cows calling from a paddock.

The clink of a glass.

A little laughter from the café next door.

And, if you stop for long enough…Not much at all.

That’s the thing about riding the Hauraki Rail Trail. You don’t just see the landscape, you get to hear it too.

So slow down. Listen a little. You might be surprised what you notice.
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/

WEEKEND LOADING… 🚲✨

The emails can wait. The washing can wait. That thing you've been meaning to do can definitely wait.

There are trails to ride. Views to stop for. Coffee to find. Little places to explore. And a whole weekend waiting just around the corner.

So, where will the Hauraki Rail Trail take you this weekend?

Pick a Section. Grab your bike. Make a little escape. 💛
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/

TRAIL STATUS UPDATE: Section C - Road and tunnel closures
DATE: 12 August 2026 - updated 13 August. NB. time changes
ISSUE: NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi daytime closures are planned on State Highway 2 (SH2) through the Karangahake Gorge, between Waihī and Paeroa. Rock-scaling is needed on cliffs above a section of the highway. A full road closure is required because loose material may fall onto the road while crews are working. The works will be carried out on the following dates:

Monday 24 to Friday 28 August (9am-4pm)

Monday 12 to Friday 16 October (9am-4pm)

Trail Closure: Due to the proximity of the tunnel entrance to the works area, the tunnel will be closed between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday. During this time there will be no road or trail access between Paeroa and Waihī. Please refer to map 1 below.

Section C Trail will remain partially open with riding available from Paeroa to Karangahake Hall and from Waihī to the Eastern Portal Bridge (tunnel entrance) 3.5km past Owharoa Falls.

N.B The road closure will cover a 500-metre section of SH2, beginning near the historic rail tunnel bridge and extending north. The work is weather dependent. Road users should plan to travel through the gorge outside the closure times, while inter-regional traffic should consider using SH29 over the Kaimai Range. Please refer to map 2 provided by NZTA below.
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/page/93660-trail-status

☕ Where is your must-have coffee stop?

For some, it's the first coffee of the day. For others, it's a little brown-lightning refuel that happens more than once. 😂 Either way, we think coffee deserves to be part of the ride.

Slow down. Find a sunny spot. Order your favourite brew (and perhaps something delicious to go with it), put the bike down and take a moment to enjoy where you are.

Along the Hauraki Rail Trail, there are plenty of wonderful cafés and places to stop for coffee, from Waihī Beach to Waikino, through Thames and the Shorebird Coast. And every one comes with its own view, atmosphere and little reason to linger.

Because sometimes the best part of the ride is the bit where you stop riding.

Make coffee part of your Little Escape. ☕🚲💛

Which is your favourite Trail coffee stop?
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/

✨ Look Up This Winter ✨

There's something rather special about riding the Hauraki Rail Trail on a crisp winter evening. As daylight fades, the Karangahake Gorge becomes a place of quiet wonder. The air cools, the world slows, and above you the night sky comes alive with thousands of stars and the shimmering band of the Milky Way. If you've never experienced the Trail after dark, there's still time to make the most of winter before the longer days return.

Just remember to ride safely:
🚲 Pack bright front and rear lights.
🧤 Wrap up warm with extra layers.
👥 Ride with a friend if possible.
📍 Let someone know your plans before you head out.

https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/
Photo credits: andy_clarke_86, Jason Mills, , Kiwi Way Of Life, Jason Loane