Te Awa River Ride

Hamilton to Cambridge

It was a sunny day, and I knew there would be work pressures for the next couple of weeks. So I figured I would finally give the Te Awa Cycle Trail a good go. I did a little planning by checking out the official website, and looked at the map. There were a couple of track closures, many of them were North Hamilton based. One of the sections was through Hammond Park due to a tree falling. However, I didn’t want to cycle this section anyway because you’re forced to walk those sections. So I took the detour , which is the Howell and Hudson Road section.

The trail is well built. If you want to give it a go but aren’t sure if you’ll make it all the way to Cambridge, then you have the chance to stop in Tamahere and make a decision. I’d say most of the ride is quite picturesque, and relatively quiet. The section that follows next to State Highway 1 is loud, which is expected. Fortunately it’s only about 1.5 km long out of the 26 km journey to Cambridge. So lets say 6% of the trip is noisy, I’d say thats a decent trade off for the nicer areas where you get to be away from motor vehicles.

Lake Te Ko Utu

A chill destination to stop at is Lake Te Ko Utu in the heart of Cambridge. The lake is in a sunken part of the town so walking around the lake itself feels like you’re further in the country side. Going for a coffee / lunch and a short walk will give you time to stretch your legs from the biking.

Cambridge to Hamilton

I biked all the way back to Hamilton and found it was just as pleasent as travelling down. It was just as interesting as well since you’ll pick up on things you will have missed coming down. Make sure to wear sun protection, even from September onwards.

Conclusion

I’d highly recommend the trail. It’s well built, maintained and there were no hassles riding along it. Tackling small sections is an adventure in itself, there’s no need to feel pressured to cover the whole thing. It also has plenty of parking along its length if you’re the type to drive your car out to a trail head. The most isolated portion of it at the moment is probably the Tamahere to Cambridge section.