Taupō's Craters of the Moon Mountain Bike Park reopens

Mountain biker Michelle Hutchins was among the first to tackle the reopened Craters of the Moon Mountain Bike Park this Labour Weekend. Photo / Kent Hutchins

After eight long months, the wait is over for Taupō's mountain bikers with the reopening of Craters of the Moon Mountain Bike Park.

The park’s approximately 50km of trails have been closed since Cyclone Gabrielle caused extensive damage in February, toppling trees and destroying tracks.

However, after significant efforts to rebuild, Craters welcomed its first riders back over Labour Weekend.

Bike Taupō chairman Pete Masters said a huge amount of hard work had been done by a dedicated team of staff, volunteers and donors to get to reopening.

“There is a bunch of people that donated - some donated goods, some donated money.

“Ninety-nine per cent don’t want any recognition or names; they just see [the park] as a great asset to the community.

“It’s all a bit humbling really.

“Our rebuild plan, from day one, was firstly to open the tracks which were not going to be logged, and then as the forestry logging was completed in each area of the park, rebuild the tracks in that area.

“Most of the key connection trails have been rebuilt but there is still more work to be done.”

Efforts to rebuild the park were assisted in September after Bike Taupō was awarded $135,000 by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) through the Tourism Infrastructure Fund.

This funding was made available because private donors, including individuals and businesses, matched the Government’s contribution.

However, even with funding secured, some of the challenges of rebuilding have been more unexpected than others.

Clearing the roughly 3700 trees that had fallen across the tracks was a mammoth task alone.

Then, deferred maintenance and lack of riders keeping the surface clear meant grass, blackberry bushes and remaining branches created a jungle over the once-clear tracks.

These problems have been solved, but Craters will still look very different to returning riders- and not just due to the barer landscape.

Major changes included completely new Tourist Trap, Zip and BBC tracks, as well as steep road access to the Steam Fields and Contact Tracing tracks.

Several other tracks, including Outback Hill, Buzzard, Coles and Missing Link were still closed pending completion of logging and rebuilding works.

Conscientious riding and paying attention to signage were therefore even more important than usual, Masters said.

“It is imperative that all members follow the signage on site.

“These relate mainly to staying safe.

“Not all tracks will be accessible, and the rules must be adhered to, otherwise we risk losing our permit to operate Craters.”

There are plans for an official reopening event on Saturday, November 4 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Hub Taupō.

Bike Taupō staff will be on hand for a chat, there will be a sausage sizzle and new Bike Taupō merchandise on sale.

Ahead of the official relaunch, Masters said the initial opening weekend was fantastic.

“That was a huge success in the number of people that turned up.

“The café was busting and it created a great atmosphere.

“We’re really stoked to have it open.”

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