Arthur Pass Highway (395 km)
Christchurch to Greymouth · one way, about 395 km back to the start
Open this ride in the planner →
Why this ride
395 km from Christchurch to Greymouth, about 5 h 20 of riding. On the way it passes Castle Hill, Arthurs Pass and Otira Gorge. The highest point is about 1,150 m. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Roadbook
- Christchurch
start
Christchurch is a city that has had to rebuild its heart and has done so with imagination and some stubbornness. About three hundred and sixty thousand people live on the flat Canterbury Plains, with the Port Hills to the south and the Southern Alps on the western horizon, and the city carries the nickname Garden City thanks to its parks, the willow-lined Avon River and the Botanic Gardens in the centre.
On 22 February 2011 a powerful earthquake struck, killing 185 people and destroying much of the centre, including the old cathedral in the square, which was left broken and unsafe. Years of clearance followed, and the city has rebuilt with new buildings, street art and open spaces. The transitional cathedral, built partly from cardboard tubes, became a symbol of that patient work. Visitors can punt on the Avon, walk through the Botanic Gardens and see the Canterbury Museum, a good place for a rainy morning.
The setting is full of interest. Banks Peninsula, an eroded pair of ancient volcanoes to the east, has steep bays and old French-settled Akaroa, and the Port Hills offer sweeping views over the city. Out on the plains, the nor'wester, a hot and dry wind from the mountains, can blow hard in summer, and the dust and heat are characteristic. In winter, frost and fog can sit over the plains for days.
For riders, Christchurch is the start of the road north-west towards Lewis Pass. The first stretch is flat, fast and busy, with State Highway 1 and then State Highway 7 crossing farmland and passing through Amberley and Waipara, before the land begins to rise towards the hills. Traffic builds on Friday afternoons and holiday weekends, and speed cameras operate. The real riding begins once you have left the plain behind, and you can see the mountains growing.
Fuel and services are everywhere in a city of this size, with workshops, supermarkets and specialist shops for motorcyclists. Fill up before you leave, since stations north of the city are spaced further apart, and have a good breakfast. Cafes in the city centre serve excellent coffee, and the market on weekends offers local produce.
Leave early to beat the traffic and watch the Southern Alps appear. On a clear morning the first sight of them is thrilling.
- Castle Hill
scenic
Castle Hill is a field of enormous limestone boulders scattered over a high basin in the Canterbury foothills, like the ruins of some giant's fortress, and it makes no sense until you stand among them. The rocks are weathered into towers, fins, arches and hollows, some of them many metres high, and the tussock between them is gold in summer and silver in frost. Māori called it Kura Tawhiti, meaning treasured place from a distant land, and it was used as a seasonal camp for people travelling to the West Coast in search of greenstone. The surrounding mountains, white with snow for much of the year, give the scene a stern, grand backdrop.
The boulders have become a world-famous place for climbing and bouldering, and on a good day you will see climbers working on the rock, chalk on their hands, pads on the ground. Others come just to wander, and the paths between the rocks are easy to follow. The scene was used in the Chronicles of Narnia film, as the site for a battle, and the connection has attracted fans. Do not climb on the rocks without proper skill, for the limestone is sharper than it looks. A short walk from the car park is enough for most, with signs explaining the geology and history.
State Highway 73, which runs past the site, is one of the great roads of the South Island, a scenic route between Christchurch and the West Coast, and here it crosses a high basin in long, open bends, with views of snowy ranges. The surface is good and the road is wide, with plenty of lay-bys. In winter, the road can be icy and snowy, and chains are sometimes required, so check conditions before you go. The wind blows hard across the basin, and the weather can change fast. Take warm clothing, even in summer.
Springfield, on the way up from Christchurch, has a few services, and Oxford is a bit farther back, so fill up before you climb. In Arthur's Pass, further west, supplies are limited. A flask of coffee and a sandwich are the best companions here, and a quiet half hour among the rocks at dawn or dusk is a real pleasure. Look out for kea, the mountain parrots, in the nearby hills.
- Arthurs Pass
scenic · 920 m
Arthur's Pass stands at 920 metres on the main divide of the Southern Alps, and its village is a small cluster of houses, a hotel, a visitor centre and a railway station, at the foot of a wall of rock, scree and snow. The pass was found in 1864 by the surveyor Arthur Dobson, and within a year a coach road had been built over it to carry gold miners to the West Coast. Before that Māori had used a route nearby. The railway followed, and an eight-and-a-half-kilometre tunnel under the range, finished in 1923, now carries the TranzAlpine train. The village exists because of these routes, and it is a base for walkers and climbers.
The mountains here are young, steep and rapidly eroding, and the landscape is raw: shingle fans, braided rivers, beech forest in the valleys and alpine meadows above. Weather comes in from the west with rain, cloud and wind, and the climate is wet and changeable. Snow can fall at any time of year, and the road has been closed many times by avalanches, floods and slips. A short walk from the village leads to the Devil's Punchbowl Falls, a waterfall of about 130 metres that thunders down a rock face into a deep pool. Wear waterproofs, as the spray is heavy.
The village is also home to the kea, the cheeky alpine parrots that are clever, curious and destructive. They will investigate anything, from a seat to a tyre, and will happily pull rubber from a bike. Do not leave anything loose on your machine, and do not feed them, however charming they look. They are protected and increasingly rare, but they have no respect for gloves.
The road, State Highway 73, is a classic, with sweeping views, long climbs and a good surface, and from Arthur's Pass it descends toward the west through Otira Gorge. Traffic is moderate, with trucks, campervans and tour coaches, and in winter the road may need chains. Fuel in the village is limited or unavailable, so fill up in Springfield on the east side or at Kumara or Hokitika to the west before you cross. There is a small shop and a café in the village, and a hot meal after a wet ride is welcome. Bring warm layers, because it can be cold.
- Otira Gorge
scenic
The Otira Gorge is the steep western descent from Arthur's Pass, a short, dramatic drop where the road leaves the pass and plunges down a narrow, rocky valley with walls of broken stone on either side. The Otira River tumbles beside the road, cold, grey and loud. The cliffs are shaped by frost and rain, and rockfalls come down in storms. Waterfalls hang from the crags, and the bush grows dark and thick below. At the top of the gorge, the road crosses a long viaduct, built in 2017 to replace a section that kept slipping, and the structure is bold and modern against the wild background.
For a rider, the gorge is the real deal. The road falls steeply, with tight bends, a narrow carriageway and a heavy flow of trucks and tour coaches, and you need to concentrate. Use engine braking, keep to your side of the road and take the corners wide and slow. The surface can be wet or covered in debris, and the drop is a long one. In rain and cloud, visibility is poor, and the road can close for slips and snow, so check before you go. The ride up from the west is easier on the nerves, with a longer view and a satisfying climb.
At the foot of the gorge lies the village of Otira, a former railway town that once housed workers on the great tunnel, and now holds a handful of homes and a historic hotel. West Coast rain is legendary, and Otira receives huge amounts of it, with several metres a year. The result is lush, mossy rainforest and rivers that rise fast after storms. Sandflies are part of the picture, and you may be glad of repellent when you stop. The old coach road, a rough track, can be seen in places beside the new road.
Arthur's Pass village has limited services, and the real options are Springfield on the east or Kumara and Hokitika on the west, so start with a full tank. A short stop at a lookout near the top gives a fine view of the upper gorge and the viaduct. Wear waterproofs, and ride in the morning if you can, when traffic is lighter, and the weather is often clearer.
- Greymouth
finish
Greymouth is the biggest town on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, and it sits at the mouth of the Grey river, where the mountains finally give out and the Tasman Sea begins. About nine thousand people live here, in a town that grew up on coal and gold, and it has a working-town feel, with a port, a railway, a brewery and a long breakwater. The Southern Alps rise behind, and the West Coast is a thin strip of wet, green country between the mountains and the sea, with heavy rain, and rivers that flood in a few hours. Hokitika, to the south, is the next town of any size.
The town was founded in the 1860s during the gold rush, and coal mining brought later prosperity. The Brunner Mine, a few kilometres up the river, was the site of New Zealand's worst mining disaster in 1896, when 65 men died, and the ruins of the coke ovens and the bridge can be visited. Nearby, the Pike River Mine disaster in 2010 killed 29 men, and the memory is still raw. Monteith's brewery, founded in 1868, is in town, and the Grey river's flood wall is a reminder of the risks.
The ride from Canterbury over Arthur's Pass is among the best in New Zealand. The road climbs from the east through the beech forest, over the pass at about 920 metres, and then drops steeply to the west through the Otira Gorge, where the road clings to a slope with a viaduct built to resist rockfalls. The surface is good, but the pass can have snow and ice from May to September, and traffic includes trucks, campervans and the occasional kea, the alpine parrot, which is clever, curious and not shy of bikes. Weather can change within minutes, and fog and rain are frequent.
Fuel is available in Greymouth, along with cafes and a good selection of food. West Coast whitebait, tiny fish served in fritters, is a local delicacy in the spring season. Nearby, the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, a day trip away, and the glaciers further south are major attractions. The end of the pass is a good moment to relax, with the smell of sea air, the sound of surf and the long beaches of black sand.