The Whakarewarewa Forest Loop (WFL) circles the renowned mountain bike trail system in Rotorua — one of the most famous MTB destinations in New Zealand, if not the world. Running for roughly 21 miles (35km), this loop provides an easy cross-country ride through the spectacular forest, passing stunning lakes, geothermal sites, and cultural landmarks along the way.
But there was a problem. The WFL was originally envisioned as an entirely off-road route, “but the original WFL budget wasn’t enough, so we needed to use the Te Ara Ahi Highway 5 section to get it off the ground,” said Tony Knauf, Operations Support & Volunteer Liaison for the Rotorua Trails Trust (RTT). The original WFL route opened in stages beginning in 2020, and the trail was announced complete and added to the Great Rides list in 2022.
Since then, just under four miles (6km) of the WFL followed a paved bike path near State Highway 5. Visitors “have consistently said that the concrete path was terrible because it wasn’t a great experience or it was really good because it was fast and you could get back to the forest,” RTT Chairman Grant Utteridge said.
But after a recent $500,000 investment, the RTT was able to reroute these six kilometers onto beautiful singletrack instead.
Creating a fun, beginner-friendly trail
The WFL has long been rated as a New Zealand Grade 2 trail, which is equivalent to a North American green singletrack trail. This beginner-friendly trail “was built to fill a gap between rail trail Great Rides and harder Great Rides,” said Knauf. “It’s a stepping stone from the likes of Otago, Twin Coast, and Hauraki rail trails onto some of the more wilderness Great Rides like the Mountains2Sea, Motu, and Great Lake trails in the area. It’s also described by some as a ‘gateway drug’ into mountain biking.”
The easy loop trail became an exceedingly popular MTB ride despite the paved connection, and thanks to trail counters, RTT was able to show real data to prove it. The Rotorua Lakes Council (RLC), which co-governs the trail along with the RTT trustees, allocated $250,000 NZD from its Long Term Plan budget for a singletrack reroute of the paved section. They also secured a one-off Government Investment matching fund grant for an additional $250,000 to fund the rest of the reroute.
In some parts of the world, beginner cross-country trails might be bland and boring.
Not in New Zealand.
“Rotorua track builders have a long history of creating fun flow tracks,” said Knauf. “So by using experienced local track builders, they were able to take the grade requirements and weave it through the forest to give us the fun, quality track.”
The trail was built through the combined efforts of RTT staff, Velosolutions NZ, and Empire of Dirt. “Engaging the three entities in parallel meant the seven sections of newly built track could be done in a shorter timeframe and would be of the high quality expected,” said Knauf.
The new trail segments include Te Ara ki Tumunui and Te Ara ki Waipā. While some sections of the reroute included rehabbing existing forest roads, most of the recent trail work is beautiful singletrack.
A Great Ride, now finally complete
Work began on the WFL Great Ride in 2019, and now, with this final singletrack reroute, the entire off-road vision is complete. The WFL has already been a massive draw for mountain bikers in this region, and now, with a 100% dirt experience for the WFL, this Great Ride promises to grow even more popular.
Mountain biking contributes more than $130 million in spending per year to Rotorua’s economy, according to Mayor Tania Tapsell. The completion of the WFL “is a win for tourism, a win for safety, and a win for everyone who loves to ride,” said Tapsell.
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