2,743 ft
Distance
18 ft
Climb
-439 ft
Descent
00:05:40
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Kissing Rock Trail
  • past supporters

Kissing Rock Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • E-Bike
  • Riding Area
    Arapuke Forest
    Palmerston North
  • Difficulty Rating
  • Voted Difficulty
    Double Black Diamond (1 vote)
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    DH, AM, XC
  • Direction
    Downhill Only
    Popular direction shown
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    Yes up to Class 1
  • TTFs on Trail
    Bridge, Drop, Jump, Rock Face, Rock Garden
  • Global Ranking
    #6139 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #2238 in E-Biking
  • Local Popularity
    70 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 65 in E-Biking
  • Land Owner
    Palmerston North City Council

This is a Grade 6 technical trail, although the whole trail has been designed to be rollable, we would suggest scouting some of the more technical features before attempting them. There are effectively 3 parts to Kissing Rock, each getting more and more technical as the hill gets steeper.

The trail starts opposite the Culvert Hub. A couple of technical log roll overs get you warmed up before you cross Zig Zag Road and briefly merge with Mr. Twister. You need to take a sharp left turn at the top of the rise to continue on Kissing Rock. This will take you into the first of many technical chutes. The trail pops up off the road then drops down to the right with quite a steep roll in. Be aware This needs to be looked at if its your first time down as it is a steep rock berm to rock chute. What follows is a smorgasbord of log drops, steep roll-ins and short technical sections.

Eventually you will swoop down a big open section that merges once again with Mr. Twister. If you stay straight ahead you will swoop up a hill and come to the Shuttle Pick up bay. If you want to continue on Kissing Rock and head to the bottom of the hill you will need to take a right hand turn about half way up the hill to the shuttle. This is the continuation of Kissing Rock lower section. If you thought the top was a little tricky, the bottom only gets harder!

The 2nd section between the Shuttle Bay and the next Road crossing (Zig Zag Rd.) has some extended steep sections that can be quite tricky when wet, with plenty of wet roots and slippery clay surface to catch you out. If that wasn't bad enough, in the dry its pretty fast and furious.

Then you cross Zig Zag Rd. for a second time and head into the 3rd and final section of Kissing Rock which will test your nerve even more. It is probably wise to have a look at some of these features before riding as they have fairly high consequence if done wrong.

Drop in off the road to a gentle warm up around to a technical rock garden, then a descending left turn that is pretty tricky will lead you to the Kissing Rock! A monster rock that was found while scouting this trail out is now a centre piece of the trail. Watch your speed as roll in as it is STEEP and has quite a compressed g-out at the bottom!

Once down this the trail continues with more rock gardens and a couple more tight descending turns as you traverse the hill dropping to one last big rock roll before exiting on to the bottom of Zig Zag Road just above the bridge.

Access Info

Kissing rock starts opposite the Culvert trail hub right next to the entrance to Checkpoint Charlie.

Bike Park

Local Trail Association
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More Stats for Kissing Rock mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -422 ft
  • Altitude min
    558 ft
  • Altitude max
    981 ft
  • Altitude start
    981 ft
  • Altitude end
    558 ft
  • Grade
    -15.4%
  • Grade max
    -72.8%
  • Grade min
    20.1%
  • Distance climb
    197 ft
  • Distance down
    2,247 ft
  • Distance flat
    262 ft
  • Avg time
    00:05:40
  • Avg reverse time
    00:05:38
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Feb 13, 2024
Dry
Avg: 5 (5 votes)
Your vote: 0

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Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
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  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
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  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
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      Directions to kissing-rock trailhead (-40.474140, 175.609890)
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      Kissing Rock Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Feb 13, 2024 @ 5:31pm
      Feb 13, 2024
      Running good. Clear of vegetation. Prime dry conditions
      Jan 14, 2023 @ 10:19pm
      Jan 14, 2023
      Jan 23, 2022 @ 2:23pm
      Jan 23, 2022
      Lower section after twister intersection desperately needs a trim. Otherwise it's an awesome track
      Nov 25, 2021 @ 4:16pm
      Nov 25, 2021
      Extremely overgrown, needs a good trim on the edges particularly on the lower part of the trail past the shuttle pickup
      Mar 12, 2021 @ 4:06pm
      Mar 12, 2021
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 2 rides
      • 29.4 km avg distance
      6 Months
      • 57 rides
      • 16.2 km avg distance
      All
      • 1,762 rides
      • Last: Sep 8, 2024

      Photos

      more »
      304 |
      Jul 23, 2018 @ 1:46am
      Jul 23, 2018
      244 |
      Aug 10, 2017 @ 4:27pm
      Aug 10, 2017
      274 |
      Aug 10, 2017 @ 4:27pm
      Aug 10, 2017
      286 |
      Aug 10, 2017 @ 4:26pm
      Aug 10, 2017

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      Videos

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      youtuber STEEP, LOOSE TECH - Kissing Rock Mountain Bike...
      3:29 | 744 | Feb 9, 2021 , Palmerston North
      Kissing Rock - K Loop, NZ
      1:03 | 648 | Oct 23, 2018 , Palmerston North
      Arapuke : Kissing Rock
      4:34 | 1128 | Apr 17, 2018 , Palmerston North
      Home MTB Downhill with Braking Telemetry on...
      3:57 | 213 | May 22, 2019 , Palmerston North
      • By dirtologist MMBC & contributors
      • #83314 - 2,680 views

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