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Forgotten World Highway · 382 km

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
382 km
Riding-time estimate
7 h 25
Journey
One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis

The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

It goes by way of Whangamomona, Tangarakau Gorge, Stratford and back through Tangarakau Gorge.

Road summary

A remote hill highway from Taumarunui, New Zealand to Stratford, New Zealand, via Whangamomona. Key character: green hills; tunnel; remote settlements. Surface: paved and short gravel.

Scenic road chapters

Forgotten World Highway

Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 13 km this is Forgotten World Highway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.

Chapter facts
Length
13 km
Named road
Forgotten World Highway

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Taumarunui

    Taumarunui is a railway and river town in the middle of the North Island, in the hill country that people call the King Country. The name comes from the Māori King Movement, whose leaders took refuge here in the nineteenth century when the land was closed to the colonial government. The Whanganui and Ongarue rivers meet nearby, and the Whanganui, long a canoe highway, flows south from here through deep bush to the sea. The main trunk railway from Auckland to Wellington passes through, and the town grew as a railway stop, with a main street that still has the look of that busy age.

    Read the complete Taumarunui write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Taumarunui is where the day begins. Next is Whangamomona.

  2. 2. Whangamomona

    There is a republic here, and it takes itself exactly as seriously as it should. In 1989 the folk of Whangamomona, annoyed at a boundary change that moved them from Taranaki into Manawatu-Wanganui, declared independence, and they have kept the joke running ever since. Republic Day is held every other January, and the presidents elected over the years have included a goat and a poodle, which says something about the standard of candidates. A passport stamp from the hotel is the souvenir, and you can reasonably claim to have crossed a border.

    Read the complete Whangamomona write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Whangamomona comes up 43 km in. Next is Tangarakau Gorge.

  3. 3. Tangarakau Gorge

    The Tangarakau Gorge is the wild heart of the Forgotten World Highway, State Highway 43, a road that crosses the hills of inland Taranaki between Stratford and Taumarunui and has a reputation among New Zealand riders far out of proportion to its length. For about twelve kilometres here the tarmac gives way to gravel, and the road squeezes between steep, bush-covered walls beside the Tangarakau River, in a landscape of papa mudstone, tree ferns and mist. There is no town of any size nearby, and the closest, Waitara, is a long way west, so this is a stretch to approach with a full tank and a plan.

    Read the complete Tangarakau Gorge write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    85 km in you reach Tangarakau Gorge. Next is Stratford.

  4. 4. Stratford

    Stratford has a clock tower that plays Shakespeare, and the whole town has leant into the joke. Its streets carry names such as Juliet, Romeo and Portia, and the glockenspiel on the tower acts out scenes from Romeo and Juliet several times a day. It is a farming town of a few thousand people on the eastern flank of Mount Taranaki, in the rolling dairy country of the North Island's west, and it is an easy place to like.

    Read the complete Stratford write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Stratford, about halfway. Next is back through Tangarakau Gorge.

  5. 5. back through Tangarakau Gorge

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Tangarakau Gorge write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Tangarakau Gorge sits at 171 km, about halfway. Next is back through Whangamomona.

  6. 6. back through Whangamomona

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Whangamomona write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Whangamomona comes up 213 km in. Next is Taumarunui.

  7. 7. Taumarunui

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Taumarunui write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Taumarunui closes the day.

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