Location: Southwestern end of Karori.
Entrance and exit points: The car park entrance to Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park is 1 kilometre down South Karori Road. Other entrances are the end of St Albans Ave, the end of Alington Road and at the summit of Mākara Road, where the park joins the Skyline Walkway.
Brief description: Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park is an award-winning purpose built bike park set in 250 hectares of bird-filled native bush. Whether you're a walker, runner or mountain biker there's a track at Mākara Peak for you.
Across Mākara Hill Road, a short distance along the main ridge, is the top of Karori Park, where there is another local network of tracks.
Parking: Car parks at South Karori Road entrance and Mākara Saddle
Accessibility: For mountain bikers the park has excellent easy gradient climbing trails, such as T4, Koru, Sally Ally and UpSwing.
If you are walking, the shortest route to Mākara Peak summit will take around an hour via the four-wheel drive track (called Snake Charmer) from the end of St Alban’s Ave, or up the climbing mountain bike trail called T4 from the Makara Saddle. All tracks are well-formed and there are seats for rests along the way.
While walkers and runners are very welcome in the park, there are a number of trails that are bike priory only, not recommended for walking or running . All the tracks have signage indicating suitability for walking and running.
Dogs: Must be kept on a leash at all times. Help protect our wildlife, kiwi live at Mākara peak.
Mountain biking: This is mountain biking heaven in Wellington. Some of the most famous trails are Koru, UpSwing and T4. The lower half of the park has tracs for all riding abilities, and from the summit down there are lots of options for intermediate to advanced riders - Peak Flow (grade 3), North Face , Pohatu (grade 4), Ridgeline , Vertigo and Trickle Falls (grade 5) and Yeah Gnar (grade 6). Check out the Mākara Peak Supporters website for more information and recommended rides.
History: The bike tracks were built by the mountain biking community and the Council. The Mākara Peak Supporters are restoring Mākara Peak to a healthy native forest and have planted extensively while building tracks. There is also ongoing pest management and as a result bird life and native plants are flourishing.
Since it was set up in 1998, Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park has become recognised as a world-class area dedicated to mountain biking. In 2024, it received the Recreation Aotearoa Outstanding Park Award recognising the development of the park and its outstanding natural environment
The Council and the Mākara Peak Supporters have prepared the Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park Master Plan (2MB PDF) to guide the management and development of the park over the next 10 years.
View this article on our website about the history of the park and the incredible conservation achievements.
Friends group: Makara Peak Supporters.
Visit map