5.8 miles
Distance
1,273 ft
Climb
-755 ft
Descent
00:51:13
Avg time

Orakau Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Great Lake Trails
    Taupo
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue rate
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    AM, XC
  • Direction
    Both Directions
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • Global Ranking
    #25966 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #9887 in Trail Running
  • Local Popularity
    55 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 85 in Trail Running
    • 70 in Hiking

From the Whangamata Road carpark, the trail follows the Orakau Stream and Harakeke (flax) wetland through regenerating native bush down to Kawakawa Bay on the edge of Lake Taupō. The trail is generally downhill and offers views across the lake to the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park. Remember, as with the other Great Lake Trails, this track is two way.

This trail makes up part of the Great Lake Cycle Trails (along with the K2K and W2K trails).

The Great Lake Trails are maintained by Bike Taupō with local support and National Cycleways funding. Please take a few minutes and take this survey to help us procure continuing funding support.
https://survey.getsmartglobal.com/survey/?question=52925

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Orakau mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    518 ft
  • Altitude min
    1,181 ft
  • Altitude max
    1,699 ft
  • Altitude start
    1,181 ft
  • Altitude end
    1,699 ft
  • Grade
    1.691%
  • Grade max
    -36.263%
  • Grade min
    40.937%
  • Distance climb
    3 miles
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    1 mile
  • Avg time
    00:51:13
  • Avg reverse time
    00:49:00
  • view trail stats
Status:
on May 14, 2022
Variable
Avg: 4.2 (5 votes)

view (698)
close
  • Basemap 
  • Trail Style 
    • ?
  • Activity Type  
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches

Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable
      Directions to orakau trailhead (-38.665410, 175.869850)
      update trails status or condition

      Orakau Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      May 14, 2022 @ 4:09pm
      May 14, 2022
      		 Heavy rain created a slippery track (no surprises there) but some additional foliage had fallen across the track. Nothing that couldn't be ridden...
      Apr 1, 2022 @ 12:08pm
      Apr 1, 2022
      Mar 11, 2022 @ 1:34pm
      Mar 11, 2022
      Dec 29, 2021 @ 12:02pm
      Dec 29, 2021
      		 Quite a bit of overhanging foliage all the way along the trail, otherwise fine
      Jul 7, 2021 @ 2:32am
      Jul 7, 2021
      		 Still a tree obstructing the trail near the top. We scrambled underneath it.
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 100 rides
      • 23 miles avg distance
      All
      • 574 rides
      •  

      Technical Trail Features (TTF)

      Photos

      more »
      9 |
      Jul 17, 2021 @ 2:50am
      Jul 17, 2021
      11 |
      Jul 17, 2021 @ 2:50am
      Jul 17, 2021
      16 |
      Jul 17, 2021 @ 2:50am
      Jul 17, 2021
      45 |
      Apr 14, 2019 @ 11:44pm
      Apr 14, 2019

      Links

      5 Reviews & Comments

      • + 1
      kanefleury MBO (Jul 13, 2017 at 16:27)
       What a great winter track! Quick dry and grippy pumice soil is the best! Rode from down the track from Whangamata Road to Kawa Kawa Bay through the awesome native bush. There were plenty of birds around to keep me company and there were some awesome views! A must do if you are hanging about in Taupo.
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      samduf (Sep 27, 2020 at 20:17)
       Rode just after some serious rain. A few puddles here and there and also some windfall near the top, but otherwise a fine trail. Would not recommend as a climb. Do the O2K as the climb then ride down this one. Really good loop from Kinloch
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      Tully01 (Oct 22, 2020 at 22:24)
       Track in excellent condition . One tree across the track 50mtr below Morepork Gully. Easy enough to get bikes over but a bit big to cut or move with the tools we had
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      SpringerNZ (Dec 28, 2020 at 16:38)
       Great ride down from the main road. Then home via K2K.
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      Tully01 (Sep 25, 2021 at 19:34)
       Rode this yesterday as part of doing the loop anti clockwise from Kinloch, a tree down in the wetlands area about 3.3kms south of Whangamata trailhead. We managed to cut a couple of branches to allow bikes through. The trail had a few mud patches after recent rain but generally fun on the downhill run to Kawakawa Bay. Trails was busy with walkers and riders.
      [Reply]





      Videos

      more »
      youtuber Great Lake Trail, Taupo: Orakau to Kawakawa...
      18:54 | 580 | Jul 19, 2018 , Taupo

      Nearby Trails

      Great Lake Trails

      • subscribe
      • flag
      • login to download gpx or kml files.