The Kauaeranga Valley runs up from the edge of Thames into the steep, wooded core of the Coromandel Peninsula, and it tells the story of the region more honestly than the postcard beaches on the other coast. Thames, about six and a half kilometres away, was a gold-rush town in 1867, and when the gold gave out the loggers turned to the great kauri forests. The valley is full of reminders. Dams built of kauri logs were used to hold water and release it in a flood to float timber down to the mill, and the remains of one, the Dancing Camp dam, can still be walked to.
Today the valley is a forest park, with the Department of Conservation visitor centre a short way up the road. The land is rugged, with volcanic ridges, rocky pinnacles and dense bush, and the road runs beside a clear stream through steep walls of green. Beyond the visitor centre the road narrows and the surface gets rougher, ending at trailheads for the Pinnacles, a famous walk to a rocky summit with a hut where trampers stay overnight. The trees are a mix of regenerating kauri, rimu and tree ferns, and the air smells of wet earth and leaf litter.
For a rider, this is a short, rewarding detour rather than a long road. The valley road is narrow and winding, with single-lane bridges, shaded corners and sometimes gravel. Rain can fall hard here and the stream rises, so check conditions before you commit. State Highway 25, the main road along the Firth of Thames, has lovely views over the water but is busy on summer weekends with holiday traffic and the odd campervan. Early morning is the best time, with mist on the hills and little traffic.
Practically, Thames, with about seven thousand people, has fuel, supermarkets, bakeries and a long main street of old verandahed buildings, and it is the last sure place for services on this side of the peninsula. Tairua on the east coast, with fifteen hundred or so residents, is the next town. Carry water and a rain jacket, and leave time to stop at the visitor centre to learn a bit more about the forest.