Hauraki Rail Trail

Behind the scenes in the Gorge ...

If you’ve ridden through Karangahake Gorge, you’ll know just how dramatic those cliffs are. This week, specialist rope-access crews have been high above SH2, inspecting the steep rock faces and removing loose or unstable material as part of NZTA’s rock-scaling work.

Because of the proximity of the works to the historic tunnel entrance, both the road and tunnel have needed daytime closures while the crew work safely overhead. The good news for Trail users is that this first phase is now complete, helping improve the safety and resilience of this spectacular route through the Gorge.

There’s a second week of work planned for 12–16 October, so keep an eye on the Hauraki Rail Trail website if you’re planning a ride through the Gorge then.

In the meantime, enjoy this rather fabulous sneak peek at the people doing the work most of us would need a very good reason to be doing! 😳🧗‍♀️

https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/page/93660-trail-status
Photo credit: NZ Herald

UPDATE: Goldfields Railway - PASSENGER SERVICE DATES
DATE: 4 September 2026
ISSUE: 🚂 Goldfields Railway is looking forward to resuming operations with a set schedule soon. For now the following dates are available for trail users to take the train:

Sunday 13th September - departing Waihi Station @ 11.30am
Friday 18th September - departing Waihi Station @ 1.45pm.

We’ll share further updates as they come to hand. Please note the Waikino Station Café remains open for trail users to enjoy. 🚴‍♀️ 💚
https://www.waihirail.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:

A family Trail adventure with a little extra fun on the side 🚲🌿☀️

If you're planning a Hauraki Rail Trail adventure with young riders, finding somewhere to stay where the fun continues after you've parked the bikes can make all the difference.

Our new Official Partner, Opal Hot Springs & Holiday Park, has just opened its brand-new playground, with plenty to climb, swing, balance, spin and explore. There's even a new slide by the BBQ area for keeping little legs entertained between swims.

And with spring here and summer just around the corner, it's a pretty lovely combination: time out riding the Trail, then somewhere the kids can burn off a little more energy while the grown-ups put their feet up.

For families, it's the best kind of holiday - adventure on the bike, plenty to discover off it, and somewhere everyone can have a good time.

Opal Hot Springs & Holiday Park, Matamata
https://www.haurakirailtrail.co.nz/listings/1902855-opal-hot-springs-and-holiday-park?page=listings&tc=1414298

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/