Clyde is a small, handsome town on the Clutha River in Central Otago, and it lies in one of the driest and sunniest parts of New Zealand, where schist hills run in smooth brown folds under a huge sky. The old gold-rush town of the 1860s survives in its main street, with stone buildings, cafes and a historic hotel, and the Clyde Dam, completed in the early 1990s, now holds back the waters of Lake Dunstan to the north. It was a major engineering project and a controversial one, and the old Cromwell town was partly drowned in the process.
The Otago Central Rail Trail, one of the country's most popular cycling routes, ends here, and the town is full of cyclists in the summer months. The dry climate makes the district a centre for apricots, cherries and stone fruit, and fruit stalls beside the road sell them in the warm months. In autumn, the poplars and willows along the river turn bright gold, and the contrast with the brown hills is memorable.
Riding here is easy, relaxed and enjoyable. State Highway 8 follows the river with long, flowing bends, passing orchards and vineyards, and the surface is generally good, though the traffic can be busy in summer. The wind can be strong and dry, and the temperature swings from over thirty degrees in January to well below freezing in July. The Roxburgh Gorge and Alexandra, a larger town with more services, lie a short distance to the south.
Clyde has a few cafes and a bakery, and fuel is available in Alexandra or Cromwell. Take a swim in the river or the lake if the day is hot, though the water is cold, and bear in mind that currents below the dam can be strong. The old town is a good place to walk around, and the stone buildings, the gold-miners' history and the quiet pace of the place give it a character that is hard to find in busier parts of the country.