The Pou Herenga Tai – Twin Coast Cycle Trail Great Ride, part of the 23 Ngā Haerenga Great Rides of New Zealand, is the only ride to span the breadth of the country, from the subtropical Bay of Islands in the east, to Hokianga Harbour in the west.
Distance: 87km 2 days
Grading: Easiest (grade 1)/Easy (grade 2)
Bike: Touring, MTB, e-Bike
Bike hire: Twin Coast Cycle Trail
Tours: Northland Experiences
Getting there: The quickest way of reaching the Pou Herenga Tai – Twin Coast Cycle Trail is via a 45-minute flight from Auckland into Kerikeri Airport, then renting a car or booking a shuttle to trail towns like Kaikohe, Ōkaihau, or Ōpua. Alternatively, it is around three hours’ drive north from Auckland or InterCity buses run to Paihia or Kerikeri, with local shuttle services connecting riders to the trail. There is a range of accommodation available close to the trail.
Trail conditions: Twin Coast Cycle Trail Status
A coast-to-coast extravaganza
Traversing the Northland region, named as one of the planet’s best destinations for 2025, by National Geographic magazine, this 87km Ngā Haerenga Great Rides of New Zealand trail is a journey through NZ’s heritage and culture, linking some of its most significant historical sites, including the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Māngungu Mission. Both places, at opposite ends of the Twin Coast Trail, played crucial roles in the founding of Aotearoa/New Zealand, with the Waitangi Treaty signed in each location, by Māori tribal chiefs and British colonisers, days apart in February 1840, paving the way for the new nation.
The trail’s name, Pou Herenga Tai, also honours the pou (carved pillars) at the heart of Māori identity and the deep connections to the coasts at either end of the ride. The trail is made up of four sections that can be ridden in full, in either direction, or as several day rides. Using the central point of Kaikohe as a base for a two-day adventure, riders can cycle downhill both ways, west to Hōreke on Hokianga Harbour and east to Ōpua in the Bay of Islands.
The past and present
Beginning in Ōpua, in the east, allows riders to first visit the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the birthplace of modern New Zealand, and Russell, the nation’s first European settlement and once the Southern Hemisphere’s busiest port.
From Ōpua, the trail includes a journey on The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway, winding alongside the Taumārere river toward the rural town of Kawakawa, with its eye-catching Hundertwasser Memorial Park and Te Hononga cultural hub.
Located behind the iconic Hundertwasser Toilets in the Memorial Park, Te Hononga is inspired by the ground-breaking Austrian artist who has a long association with this region, and features Toi Māori art, culture and design.
Over the hills
Leaving Kawakawa, the trail runs through undulating farmlands before rising gently for 25km toward Kaikohe, passing waterfalls and crossing twin suspension bridges over the Orauta Stream, at Tuhipa. In Kaikohe, the Pioneer Village is an outdoor museum that includes the restored Ngapuhi Railway Station and other exhibits reflecting on this region’s 500 years of continuous Māori settlement as well as Aotearoa’s earliest interactions with Europeans. The trail’s cycle hub is also located here.
Kaikohe marks the trail’s high point, midway between the coasts. Travelling west from here the trail follows the retired Northland railway corridor, that once served this area’s small settlements, to Ōkaihau. At 14km this is the Pou Herenga Tai’s most popular day-ride, beginning by curving through a disused rail tunnel then descending to the shores of Ōmāpere, Northland’s largest lake, before crossing a water ford close to Ōkaihau.
From Ōkaihau, the wilder western part of the trail travels 34km toward Hōreke, at the edge of Hokianga Harbour, dropping down into Utakura Valley via a series of switchbacks and then beside the river, surrounded by bush-covered hills. Emerging from farmlands, it then reaches a 1km-long boardwalk running through the harbour estuary’s mangrove forest, where kingfishers and wading birds like herons are common.
A cultural journey
Also at this end of the trail is Māngungu Mission House, New Zealand’s oldest Methodist Church, built in 1838 on a hillside overlooking the harbour, which pre-dates the establishment of the British colony. It was the site of the second major signing of the Treaty of Waitangi on February 12, 1840, with more than 60 chiefs adding their assent to the nation’s founding document here in front of nearly 3,000 people.
For cyclists on this beautiful ride, Māngungu Heritage Site also marks the western terminus to this trail, 2km from Hōreke, with shuttle vans making regular pickups from the cafe and returning them to Kaikohe, finishing one of the Great Rides of New Zealand on a high note.
“The Pou Herenga Tai – Twin Coast Cycle Trail, is more than a cycling adventure,” says trail manager Trace Dalton, “It’s a cultural journey on which every kilometre tells a story woven through Aotearoa’s earliest Māori and European settlements, inviting you to experience the spirit of Te Tai Tokerau Northland.”
“As you ride,” adds Dalton, “you follow the paths of ancestors and the tracks of an old railway and pass through native forests and historic towns and beside shimmering waterways, with storyboards along the trail immersing you in the rich heritage and traditions of the land.”
- Journey coast to coast from the Bay of Islands to Hokianga Harbour
- Cycle year-round in the so-called “winterless North”
- Explore the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the nation’s most important historic site
- Take a ride on the Bay of Island vintage train for a nostalgic rail-and-trail experience
- See the Hundertwasser Memorial Park in Kawakawa
- Enjoy a soak in the mineral-rich hot waters of Ngawha Springs, outdoor geothermal pools near Kaikohe
- Visit the Pioneer Village at Kaikohe
- Ride through a curved 80m rail tunnel near Kaikohe
- Cycle through mangroves on a 1km boardwalk
- Visit historic Māngungu Mission House, overlooking Hokianga Harbour
See Ngā Haerenga Great Rides of New Zealand for more info on this incredible cycling journey.
