The much anticipated 32-kilometre Kawarau Gorge Trail will be officially opened towards the end of 2025.

Southern Lakes Trails Trust chairman Aaron Halstead says the trail links Bannockburn  to Gibbston and construction is well advanced.

“This year two suspension bridges will be built over the Kawarau River at the Nevis Ferry and Citroen Rapids locations which are either side of the Nevis River. Two bluff bridges will also be constructed to link the landlocked formed trail sections together.”

He says over the past year contractors have been working in hard-to-access areas as well as landlocked areas  including the completion of the bluff bridge upstream from the Goldfields Mining Centre.

“This heavy-duty bridge at three metres wide and 52 metres long has been engineered to carry six tonnes and is the only way for diggers and earthwork equipment to get to into the Roaring Meg area,” says Aaron.

Specialists in their fields have worked with the contractors to help preserve and enhance the ecology and historic and heritage features of the Kawarau Gorge environment. Several species of protected skinks and geckos are endemic to the area and lizard habitats have been developed to protect them while hundreds of native trees and shrubs have also been identified to be avoided during trail building.

Aaron says the Trust is upbeat about the progress including the section o track around the Nevis Bluff being developed by NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi and looks forward to officially launching the exciting new trail to the biking community in the region.

Trail Facts

Southern Lakes Trails Trust is  building the Kawarau Gorge Trail with co-funding from Central Lakes Trust, Otago Community Trust and Government (MBIE). The Trust is responsible for the construction of the trail along with the Lake Dunstan Trail and the Wanaka Link at a total cost of $26.3 million. The popular Lake Dunstan Trail  was opened in May 2019 and has been ridden by more than 250,000 people.

The Kawarau Gorge Trail is a pivotal component of the project which connects the four Great Rides in the Otago region creating 530 kilometres of continuous trail network across Queenstown, Central Otago and connecting through to Waihola near Dunedin.