Rotorua's Essential 50: Day 3 - Thermal By Bike Cycleway

Whether you are new to cycling or an old hand, the Te Ara Ahi - Go Thermal By Bike Cycleway is a must-do.

Keen mountainbiker and Rotorua Deputy Mayor Dave Donaldson is a regular user and believes it's essential to try it, regardless of cycling ability.

"You can ride the entire length and get a shuttle back or ride it in stages. It's great for tourists and lots of locals use sections of it," he said.

"It's downhill pretty much the whole way from Eight Mile Gate Rd. This cycleway has features you won't find on any other cycleway in New Zealand - there are geothermal landscapes and attractions."

The cycleway starts at the Princes Gate Hotel and goes through the Government Gardens and onto the sulphur flats track to Te Puia.

It visits Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Rainbow Mountain, Kerosene Creek, Wai-o-Tapu, Waikite Valley, Te Kopia, where an ancient mud geyser has come back to life, then Waihunuhunu at Lake Ohakuri.

"You can park up at Wai-o-Tapu and cycle to Rainbow Mountain and enjoy the uphill and downhill tracks, or some park at Waimangu and head to Rainbow Mountain that way. We hope in time that people can get a water taxi across Lake Ohakuri and join up to the Waikato River Trails and then ride to Karapiro."

Shuttles can be booked at the iSite on Fenton St.

The Rotorua Daily Post Essential 50 lists the city's must-see, must-do and must-try activities and experiences. We'll be highlighting one every day over summer.