Your Guide to the Best Queenstown Mountain Bike and Gravel Trails

Queenstown has some of the best mountain bike tracks and scenic gravel trail rides anywhere in the world. But if you’re just visiting the trick is knowing where to find them – we’re asked for directions at Outside Sports bike store in Queenstown many times every day. So here’s your guide to finding the trails and the kind of biking adventure you’re in for. As always, if you have any questions the team at Outside Sports is happy to help – get in touch with us here.

McNearly Gnarly is hands down one of the world’s top flow trails. Anyone from intermediate to pro mountain bikers will love it. 

McNearly Gnarly is accessed via the Wynyard Jump Park at Fernhill. To get there from Outside Sports Bike Shopat Shotover Street it’s a gentle climb up Man Street and Thompson Street to the Fernhill Town Link trail. When you get to the Jump Park look for the signs for the entrance to the McNearly Gnarly and Fern Hill trail loop, which runs clockwise.  

Squid Run is a local mountain biker’s favourite with flowy and technical sections, plus roots, rocks and line options aplenty.  

Squid Run is right at our back door at Outside Sports Queenstown. To get there start from the rear entrance of our store on Memorial Street, and after 100 metres turn right onto Brecon Street and head to the Skyline Gondola base station. Either buy a pass and take your bike up with you in the gondola, or ride up the very steep access track to the top of Ben Lomond. Once you’re there look for the trail named ‘Beeched As’ and follow this until Squid Run drops to the left after about 500 metres. 

Outside Sports is your jumping off point for the world-class Skyline Bike Park – it’s literally at our back door! In the Skyline Bike Park there are trails for everyone, whether you’re just getting into downhill mountain biking or a world champion.  

As for Squid Run above the bike park is accessed via the Skyline Gondola. Either buy a pass and take your bike up with you in the gondola, or ride up the very steep access track to the top of Ben Lomond. Once you’re at the top choose a trail that matches your skill level.

Trail difficulty at the Skyline Bike Park is rated as follows, and most Skyline trails are either Blue or Black.

Green - Beginner. Blue – Intermediate.  Black - Difficult. Double Black - Expert.

The Rude Rock and Hot Rod trail combo is an epic downhill flow and feature track for intermediate to pro mountain bike riders that together drop a massive 1,200 vertical metres. Rude Rock starts just below the Coronet Peak base area and extends into Hot Rod further down the mountain.

To get to Coronet Peak it’s a 15km ride from Outside Sports in Shotover Street heading north along Gorge Road towards Arrowtown. A lot of people drive to the bottom of the Coronet Peak access road and bike up from there. But if you’re on an ebike riding all the way from our store along the new Wharehuanui bike trail is easy. 

If you’re an advanced mountain bike rider who like your trails fast and flowy with lots of jumps you’ll love Dirt Serpent at Coronet Peak. Dirt Serpent starts at the top of the Coronet Express chairlift and heads down to the base area where you can link up with the top of the Rude Rock trail. 

Getting to Dirt Serpent from Queenstown is the same as for Rude Rock and Hot Rod described above. 

The Wharenui Trail is an easy gravel trail that takes you from Queenstown all the way to Arrowtown. It’s suitable for any bike type and everyone in the family, and it starts at Outside Sports. From our Memorial Street entrance head 50 metres to Camp Street to pick up the shared path to Arthurs Point, which is 6 km way. From Arthurs Point you join the Wharehaunui Trail itself to Arrowtown.  

The total trail length from Queenstown to Arrowtown is 20km. There are a few short hills between Queenstown and Arthur’ Point, but after that it’s pretty much level, easy riding through amazing scenery. This is a dual use track so look out for walkers and please make sure to give way to them. 

The Twin Rivers Trail is a great way to discover Queenstown’s rivers on a wide and well-maintained gravel trails that are easy riding for the whole family.  

The Twin Rivers Trail starts from the Kawerau Falls Scenic Reserve off Roberson Road in Frankton, near the airport. Head east to the Kawerau River and after about 1 kilometre turn left at the Shotover River. At the lower Shotover Bridge you can either keep going to Tucker Beach which is around 3km each way or go across the bridge and turn right and head out alongside the Kawerau River to Gibbston Valley for a longer out and back ride of 25km. 

The Kelvin Heights trail is a great ride for competent bike riders of all ages along the Wakatipu shoreline. This 6km trail starts on the south side of Kawerau Falls and heads to Jardine Park at the end of Peninsula Road. 

From there you can either turn around and head back, or join the Jacks Point Trail which runs for another 8km to the Jacks Point golf course.  

The Jacks Point Trail is a shared use single track for competent riders of all ages on the opposite side of the lake to central Queenstown. There are few narrow sections and some blind corners, but overall, it’s an easy track, with great views across Lake Wakatipu. The trail starts at Jardine Park at the end of Peninsula Road in Kelvin Heights and heads southeast for 12 kms to the Jacks Point golf course, where the trail loops to take you back towards Kelvin Heights. 

You can either drive to the car parks the start or end of the trail, or link the Jacks Point trail to the Kelvin Heights Trail, which connects to the Queenstown Trail at Kawerau Falls. Doingall that will give you a round-trip bike ride of around 60 km starting from our store in central Queenstown – making it a perfect day out on our rental ebikes. 

But that’s not all - you can extend the Jacks Point Trail by another 3.5 km along the lake by continuing on the Drift Bay track, which starts at the beginning of the trail loop at Jacks Point golf course.

Sorry but this last section isn't available to show you on Google Maps - at the golf course please look for the signs showing the entrance to the Drift Bay trail.

If you need to hire a bike to enjoy the trailswe have Queenstown’s best quality bikes available for half day, full day, or multiday hire – including the latest premium downhilland enduro mountain bikes from Whyte, Forbidden, Mondraker, and Scott, and Scott gravel bikes.You can book your bike online now.

$2.50 from every bike hire at Outside Sports goes to support the work of trail building and maintenance throughout the Southern Lakes region.