Otago Central Rail Trail
152km on a mountain bike or e-bike!
This excellent 152km biking & hiking trail stretches between Clyde and Middlemarch in Central Otago. The original railway line, built in the 1890s to provide a link between Central Otago and Dunedin, was closed in 1990.
The 64km stretch between Dunedin & Middlemarch still has rail lines and was home to the recently closed Taieri Gorge Railway, while the rest of the track was pulled up for a mountain biking trail.
Old stations, sidings, tunnels, bridges and pubs pepper the route and there’s much to love out here. The trail is relatively flat - steam trains used to chug along it and they couldn’t handle steep gradients - so this is an excellent adventure for families.
Best advice: bike from Clyde to Middlemarch (prevailing westerly winds make the opposite direction tedious); allow two nights out staying at accommodation on the trail; see Trail Journeys for info on rental bikes (including electric bikes!), transport, vehicle relocations and luggage transfers.