Why this ride
A 164 km one-way ride from near Rosebank, about 2 h 41 of riding. Much of it runs through woodland.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Waitākere Ranges and Piha · part 2
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 164 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 41
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Rosebank
Rosebank is not where anyone goes for the view. It is a light industrial peninsula on the western side of Auckland, between the suburb of Avondale and the Whau River, a place of factories, warehouses, workshops and car dealers, with a single long road running down the middle. But it has a surprising history, and it is a practical, unpretentious place to start a ride into the Waitākere Ranges.
Read the complete Rosebank write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Waitākere Ranges and Piha food stop is where the day begins. Next is Photo stop near Waiuku.
2. Photo stop near Waiuku
Waiuku sits at the head of a long, muddy arm of the Manukau Harbour, south-west of Auckland, and for centuries it was a crossroads. Māori travellers hauled canoes across the short portage between the Manukau and the Waikato River here, linking the harbours of the north with the great river system of the interior, and early European traders used the same route. Today it is a quiet country town serving farms in the surrounding hills, with a main street of shops and cafés and an easy, unhurried rhythm.
Read the complete Photo stop near Waiuku write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Waiuku comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is Waitākere Ranges and Piha checkpoint 8.
3. Near Mangere
This stop looks out from the northern edge of the Manukau Harbour, the vast, shallow inlet that almost cuts Auckland in two, looking across the water to Māngere and its volcanic cone. Auckland is built on a field of some fifty small volcanoes, and you can see several of them from here: Māngere Mountain across the harbour, the terraced slopes of One Tree Hill to the north-east, and others dotted around the suburbs. Many were fortified pā sites in pre-European times, and their terraces and food storage pits are still visible on the grass.
Read the complete Near Mangere write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 125 km.
Leg by leg
Photo stop near Waiuku to Near Mangere
Photo stop near Waiuku → Near Mangere is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.