4,039 ft
Distance
373 ft
Climb
-225 ft
Descent
00:07:32
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Upswing Trail

  • Sponsor

Upswing Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park
    Wellington
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Green (1 vote)
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    AM, XC
  • Direction
    Uphill Only
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Season
    All seasons
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    Yes up to Class 1
  • TTFs on Trail
    Bridge
  • Ride in Rain
    Yes
  • Global Ranking
    #498 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #5153 in Trail Running
    • #45775 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    100 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 80 in Trail Running
    • 75 in Hiking
  • Year Opened
    2017
  • Land Owner
    Wellington City Council

Upswing is the new climbing track that provides a much easier and more enjoyable way of getting to the summit of Makara Peak compared with Missing Link or Snakecharmer.

The first part of the track was built in 2016 by volunteers and corporate work parties. It climbs at a pretty gentle gradient through a series of eight switchbacks before crossing the 72 metre long Wild At Heart suspension bridge. The suspension bridge was planned by the Makara Peak Supporters, who also raised the funds and coordinated volunteers to assist Abseil Access with the construction of the bridge.

The bridge crosses high above a steep sided gully and native bush. There are viewing platforms and picnic areas on both sides of the bridge where you can enjoy the views of the bridge and the centre of the park.

The second portion of the track continues at a mellow gradient around the valley before joining about three quarters of the way up Aratihi. This section of the trail was digger and rock breaker built by TGL Contracting with funding from the Wellington City Council.

From there riders can continue for another 10 minutes of climbing to the summit or choose to head into the south west corner of the park via Upper Leaping Lizard.

Access Info

From the main carpark, head up Koru and Sally Alley. At the end of Sally Alley, turn right onto the 4WD track for 25m and then left onto Three Brothers . From St Albans Ave, head up Snake Charmer (4WD track) and drop into Sally Alley at one of the connector tracks.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Upswing mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    148 ft
  • Altitude min
    899 ft
  • Altitude max
    1,079 ft
  • Altitude start
    899 ft
  • Altitude end
    1,047 ft
  • Grade
    3.7%
  • Grade max
    -54%
  • Grade min
    44.5%
  • Distance climb
    2,536 ft
  • Distance down
    1,191 ft
  • Distance flat
    312 ft
  • Avg time
    00:07:32
  • Avg reverse time
    00:07:49
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jun 14, 2025
Wet
Avg: 4.25 (22 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (30,665)
close
  • BasemapMap 
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Partial
  • 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
US Cell Coverage
Legend
cell carrier legend

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
  • Snowmobile
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
x Missing Trails
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
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

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to upswing trailhead (-41.293910, 174.708450)
      update trails status or condition

      Upswing Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jun 14, 2025 @ 7:18pm
      Jun 14, 2025
      		 reporter Taking a hammering with all the rain and traffic.
      May 31, 2025 @ 9:43am
      May 31, 2025
      May 22, 2025 @ 2:24pm
      May 22, 2025
      May 17, 2025 @ 11:38am
      May 17, 2025
      May 12, 2025 @ 4:14pm
      May 12, 2025
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 12 rides
      • 14 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 320 rides
      • 13 miles avg distance
      All
      • 2,675 rides
      • Last: Jun 24, 2025

      Technical Trail Features (TTF)

      Photos

      more »
      102 |
      Apr 26, 2023 @ 6:02pm
      Apr 26, 2023
      98 |
      Mar 7, 2023 @ 8:50pm
      Mar 7, 2023
      108 |
      Mar 7, 2023 @ 8:09pm
      Mar 7, 2023
      106 |
      Feb 26, 2022 @ 10:19am
      Feb 26, 2022

      Trail Lists

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Makara easy-ish loop7 miles
      Advanced Loop6 miles
      Mākara Peak Creek to Peak Climb4 miles
      Expert Loop6 miles

      Links

      3 Reviews & Comments


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Create a Free Account

      Videos

      more »
      Upwing - Looking fresh
      2:44 | 662 | Feb 28, 2017 , Wellington

      Nearby Trails

      Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park

      You must enter a description before submitting.