Crown Range and Glenorchy Loop

Two iconic alpine roads, one over the Crown Range and one along Lake Wakatipu.

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Why this ride

Two iconic alpine roads, one over the Crown Range and one along Lake Wakatipu. The road: Crown Range Road and Glenorchy-Queenstown Road. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Wānaka start

   Wānaka is a lakeside town of about four and a half thousand at the southern end of Lake Wanaka, where the water is the colour of a glacier's thought and the mountains stack up behind in ranks. It has long been the quieter sibling to Queenstown over the hill, a place where people come to ski, tramp and sit on the shore, and a lot of them end up staying. The famous willow standing in the water near the lakefront is a tourist photo, but locals have been loyal to it for years.

   Behind the town are the glacier-carved valleys leading to Mount Aspiring National Park and the peak called Tititea, or Mount Aspiring, a pyramid rising above 3,000 metres. The lake itself was gouged by a great ice tongue during the last glaciations, and the terraces and moraines around it still frame the landscape. In summer the hills are tawny and the water cold, in autumn the poplars and willows go gold, and in winter snow dusts the tops of the Pisa Range and the roads can ice in the shade.

   For riders, Wanaka is the starting point for the Crown Range Road, one of the great climbs in New Zealand. It leaves the valley, passes the old Cardrona Hotel, a gold-rush survivor from the 1860s with a verandah made for a flat white, and then climbs in switchbacks to a summit of about 1,076 metres, the highest sealed main road in the country. The road down the other side to Arrowtown and Queenstown is a long, sinuous descent with the Wakatipu basin laid out below. It can ice or snow in winter, and chains are sometimes required, so check conditions. Surface is good, traffic is moderate with campervans, and the best hours are early or late when the light is low and the sun draws long shadows across the schist hills.

   Fuel is straightforward in Wanaka, with several stations and a good run of cafes and bakeries along the waterfront and main street. Arrowtown, with a little over two thousand people, and Cromwell, with just over five thousand, are the next options, and the Cardrona valley is thin on services. Fill up before the Crown Range and bring layers, because the weather can flip within an hour.

2. Crown Range pass · 1121 m

   The Crown Range Road is the highest sealed main road in New Zealand, crossing the mountains between Queenstown and Wānaka at about 1,120 metres. It climbs out of the Wakatipu basin from Arrowtown in a series of switchbacks, with views of the Remarkables, the Shotover valley and the blue of Lake Wakatipu far below. At the summit a lookout lets you see the Cardrona valley opening to the north, with tussock grass in gold and green, and on a clear day the mountains stand in layers.

   This country has a gold-rush history. In the 1860s, prospectors flooded into the area after gold was found in the Arrow River, and towns appeared overnight. Arrowtown, at the foot of the climb, still has its miners' cottages and a Chinese settlement, where workers who arrived later lived in small stone huts. On the other side, the Cardrona Hotel, dating from the same era, still serves drinks and food in its old timber rooms, a landmark beside the road. The area is also a ski region, with the Cardrona ski field nearby.

   The road itself is a joy. The Queenstown side has a run of tight bends and steep gradients, with a good surface and barriers at the edge of the drops. Once over the crest, the road runs more freely across open tussock country, with long visibility and fast sweeps. In winter, snow and ice can close the road or require chains, and fog and wind are common on the top, so check conditions before you set out. In summer, the road is busy with campervans and tourists, so be ready to ride behind slower traffic.

   Fuel is available in Queenstown and Wānaka, but not on the pass, and prices are higher in small settlements. Arrowtown has a few cafés and shops for a coffee before the climb. The nearest big town in the data is Queenstown, about twenty kilometres away, with every service you might need. Remember that New Zealand drives on the left, and that distances between fuel stops can be longer than they look on the map.

   The light on the Crown Range is distinctive, with high clear air and long shadows. Late afternoon in summer or autumn, when the tussock glows, is the moment to be at the summit.

3. Queenstown stop

   The town sits on the shore of Lake Wakatipu, a long, dark, glacier-carved lake shaped like a lightning bolt, with the Remarkables mountain range rising straight from the far side in a wall of grey rock and snow. A Māori legend says the lake is the burnt outline of a giant, Matau, whose heart still beats under the water, and the lake level does rise and fall in a slow rhythm, a seiche caused by wind and pressure, which is the scientific explanation for the legend. The old coal-fired steamship TSS Earnslaw, launched in 1912, still crosses the lake to a high-country farm.

   The gold rush brought the first crowds. In 1862 gold was found in the Arrow River, and the tiny town of Arrowtown boomed, with thousands of miners including a large group from China. The wooden cottages of the Chinese settlement have been restored, and the autumn colours of the poplars and birches along the river are famous in April and May. The modern age gave Queenstown its commercial bungy, which began at the Kawarau Bridge in 1988.

   The Crown Range Road is why a rider is here. It climbs from the Wakatipu basin in a series of tight switchbacks with views down to Queenstown, then crosses a high saddle at 1,076 metres, the highest sealed main road in the country, before descending to the Cardrona valley and Wanaka. The surface is good, the corners are tight in the climb and open on top, and the views across the Pisa Range are huge. Ice and snow can close the road or require chains in winter, so check the conditions, and the temperature can drop ten degrees between town and summit. Take care on the descent, because oncoming vehicles and cyclists cut corners.

   The best months are December to March for a dry road and long days, and April, when the leaves turn. Winter is for ski traffic and caution. The Cardrona Hotel, a gold rush-era pub on the other side of the pass, is a popular stop for a pie and a pint of local beer.

   Queenstown has plenty of fuel stations and Arrowtown has a few too, so fill up in town before climbing, because the summit has no services.

4. Back to Wanaka finish

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