8.09km km one way or 16.2kms return
Grade 3/4 - Intermediate to Advanced
This is an awesome intermediate to advanced (grade 3 to 4) single-track between Littles Road (Arthur's Point) and the Old Lower Shotover Bridge on the true left of the Kimi Ākau / Shotover River
Starting at the Littles Road end, the trail access is down a private driveway on the right as the road starts to climb uphill – look out for the Orange DoC marker. Please respect the no-parking sign, and if you need to park a car, then use the Redemption Trail car park 100m back up Littles Road on the left.
The trail starts steeply, zig-zagging up the face on your left, but before long you reach a flat terrace above the Lower Shotover Gorge, the trail meanders through open meadows before dropping through a gate, down into a gully and over a small bridge in the woodland. These gully’s hold the remnants of plenty of gold-mining history, and tailings from sluicing are evident along much of the river’s edge.
Continuing downstream, with the sound of the occasional jetboat far below, follow the track through sheep pasture and onto an open flat opposite the Tucker Beach Recreation Reserve. From here, the track joins a fun single-track traverse around another bluff. There are some exposed sections here, so keep children under close supervision and take care.
Once round the bluff the trail passes beneath the impressive sand cliffs and traverses the alluvial gravels before dropping into the Willows for some fun techy sections weaving in and out of the trees.
Around the final short bluff and onto the gravel flats of the Lower Shotover Conservation Area, watch out and give way to horses which frequent this shared-use area. The trail then pops out on the Queenstown Trail at the foot of the steep climb to Domain Road; turn right and continue downstream for 1.5km to reach the Old Lower Shotover Bridge and Rotary carpark. From here you can reverse the route, or continue along the Twin Rivers Trail and Frankton Track to Queenstown and take the commuter trail to Arthur's Point to end up back where you started.