Biking the Clyde to Alexandra River Trail

Cruisy fast-flowing fun

The single track bike trail takes us through mostly sheltered sections along the Clutha River. It’s a pretty cruisy easy-flowing bike ride with uphill sections that are not too relentless, and very short but frequent downhill sections to catch some speed – speed you’re safe enough to catch with such even terrain mostly consisting of hard gravel. There’s only the very odd loose rock that we have to watch out for. Like us, you don’t have to be an avid rider to enjoy this trail, but we see people certainly kitted out like hardcore bikers that we can only assume are enjoying the trail too.

Cycling the seasons

To go with our colourful ride along the blue Clutha River, we pass the blossoming yellow flowers and vibrant green forest. Spring time really is a stunning time to do the ride! (Although, with all these trees, we imagine autumn would blow our minds too). Along with that, we have birds watching and judging us as we pass, or flying out of the way as we come flying down the track.

Getting some height and getting some views

A local’s favourite

Despite it being a Sunday, we only see the odd cyclist and person walking their dog. It’s fair to say that this trail is more of a local’s favourite, rather than the more popular and busier Otago Central Rail Trail.

Mining relics and blasts over bridges

Along the way, we stop at a few fun features, such as a huge drill left from the mining days, a quarry which marks halfway through the trail, and a tree swing over the river. However, it’s just a little bit too cold to go for a splash today. (But just imagine how awesome that would be in summer!)

The second half of the Clyde – Alexandra River Trail throws us some fun features to river over too. Where streams and beautiful cascades flow into the Clutha River, we ride over a selection of small boardwalks to larger bridges. It’s pretty cool to know that these boardwalks are here for when the weather gets a bit wet, but for today, most of the streams under the smaller bridge have dried up, giving riders the opportunity to plunge down into the steam bed and up again. While Robin anally sticks to every bridge and boardwalk, Laura dips into every alternative route she can find.