Dracophyllum Flat Track

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Track Status: CLOSED FOR THE SEASON
The frosts have started in earnest and the ground is saturated from rain- time to call another great season to an end. Thanks for all the help this summer. Check the Castle Hill Hogs Back Track Facebook Page for more up-to-date information on the tracks.

We have big plans for more mountain-bike track development in the Castle Hill Basin. Please help us help you enjoy yourself at Castle Hill by giving a donation towards future track development using the Paypal donation button below (note that a Paypal account isn't required to make a donation).


Click these links for more details on the other mountain bike tracks developed by the Castle Hill Community: Hogs Back Track Sidle 73 Track Proposed Craigieburn Track For more information on mountain biking in the Castle Hill Basin area: Craigieburn Forest Park MTB Tracks Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park MTB Tracks

Dracophyllum Flat Track After the construction of the Hogs Back and Sidle 73 tracks by the Castle Hill community, the Dracophyllum Flat mountain bike track has been developed tol complete the mountain biking link between Castle Hill Village and the Broken River skifield road in the Craigieburn Forest Park. Route Description The Dracophyllum Flat Track runs for approx. 5km between the Broken River and Cheeseman skifield roads and links up with the Texas Flat end of the Hogs Back Track. At it's northern end, the track is accessed from Jacks Pass on the Broken River skifield road. From Jacks Pass the track descends steadily through beech forest down (~140m descent) to Broken River (now crossed by a new footbridge). From the river bed the route then climbs up steeply (~50 m ascent) to reach Dracophylum Flat. After an easy crossing of Dracophyllum Flat the track re-enters the bush again and traverses through several boggy and muddy areas as well as crossing several small streams. Parts of this track are currently unrideable but is planned to develop this section further with a series of culverts (see below). Once through the bush, the currently track route (pre-Jan 2013) traverses a tussock area to reach the Cheeseman Ski Club Forest Lodge ice skating pond and the Cheeseman skifield road. The proposed rerouting of the track (described below) will divert the trail away from the lodge, as well as providing a more direct route to Texas Flat. See below for a route map and also for images from the track.
Track Statistics Track length Jacks Pass to Texas Flat: 6.7km Total ascent Jacks Pass to Texas Flat: 355m Total ascent Texas Flat to Jacks Pass: 420m

Dracophyllum Flat Track Route - Google Maps View Larger Map Dracophyllum Flat Track Route - Open Cycle Map View Larger Map


Images from the Track These images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 New Zealand License

Dracophyllum Flat Track Workparty Jan 2013

Proposed Track Rerouting
The proposed rerouting of the Dracophyllum Track leaves from the Cheeseman Road after Tim�s Stream as shownbelow. The track would leave from the road as shown (orange) heading across relatively dry ground to reach the beech forest. A small stream requires a footbridge of ~5m in length (Location 2). The track would weave through the beech forest passing the weather station (Location 3) before descending back into the forest. A second blue line is proposed that is an alternative route following disturbed ground via an old dam and then down a spur having extensive natural erosive area�s. Both proposed lines would have minimal impact. The current track is shown in red.


Proposed Track Development
Other proposed track development is shown below. Four foot bridges (see numbers) will be required as part of this work programme along with five culverts (denoted by C).


Further Information
For further information on this proposal or to provide support please contact Paul Weber, Castle Hill Village

The images on this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 New Zealand License

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Further Information