Why this ride
On the way it passes Glenorchy Lake Road, near Te Anau, Queenstown and near Kingston. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,300 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Glenorchy Lake Road · short arc
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 779 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 16 h 02
- 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: planning record, not independently verified geometry.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Milford Road
Slow enough to look. The surface follows the shoreline, so the corners arrive where the water decided, not where an engineer did. Water arrives beside the road and stays for 108 km. The line follows the shore because there is nowhere else for it to go.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 108 km
- Named road
- Milford Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Queenstown / South Island
At just over three thousand metres, it is the highest peak in New Zealand outside the Aoraki Mount Cook region, and its steep faces and hanging glaciers attract mountaineers from around the world. It sits in the national park, among beech forest, river flats and high basins, a landscape that few people ever see.
Read the complete Queenstown / South Island return write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Queenstown / South Island is where the day begins. Next is Glenorchy Lake Road food stop.
2. Glenorchy Lake Road food stop
No road reaches it. The country here is high, wet and wild, with beech forest, alpine lakes and jagged peaks, and the Humboldt mountains stand over it like a wall. A rider arrives on the lake road and looks up at it from below.
Read the complete Glenorchy Lake Road food stop write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Glenorchy Lake Road food stop is where this day stops to eat. Next is Photo stop near Te Anau.
3. Photo stop near Te Anau
Planning note
about 450 km into the recorded legs you reach Photo stop near Te Anau. Next is Glenorchy Lake Road checkpoint 8.
4. Near Queenstown
South of Queenstown, the road to Kingston follows the eastern shore of Lake Wakatipu, squeezed between deep, cold water and the jagged wall of the Remarkables. In winter they are white to their bases; in summer the bare rock glows gold and grey in the evening light.
Read the complete Near Queenstown write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Glenorchy Lake Road checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is High point near Kingston.
5. High point near Kingston
Planning note
High point near Kingston sits at 622 km, late in the day. Next is Scenic stretch near Kingston.
6. Scenic stretch near Kingston
Planning note
The route ends here after 779 km.
Leg by leg
Glenorchy Lake Road food stop to Photo stop near Te Anau
Glenorchy Lake Road food stop → Photo stop near Te Anau is 282 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Photo stop near Te Anau to Near Queenstown
Photo stop near Te Anau → Near Queenstown is 152 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Kingston to Scenic stretch near Kingston
High point near Kingston → Scenic stretch near Kingston is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.