Skippers Road to The Branches

A spectacular 70km return journey into the heart of early Central Otago gold-rush country.

The ride starts at the junction of Arthurs Point Road, Malaghans Road and the Coronet Peak Road and twists and winds through the Skippers' Canyon and alongside the historic Shotover River to the Skippers settlement and on to the end of the public road at The Branches. Most rental car companies won't allow their cars to go on this road.

We rode this route in fine weather in April 2009.

Click here for the route map in Google Maps.

The first section of the ride is a 4.5 km climb up the sealed Coronet Peak Road to the intersection with the Skippers Road.  From this point on the road is unsealed, and in many places narrow and winding with blind corners.

The surface on this part of the road is sound, but there are several blind corners. Slow and careful riding is the order of the day.

Once you're over the hill, so to speak, there are plenty of interesting historic spots to check out as you work your way up the valley.  Much of the road is good easy riding, but in places there are steep banks on either side of the road ...

... places where the river and road compete for space ...

... and a few fords to negotiate ...

On the other hand, there are very picturesque stretches of road ...

... stunning views ...

... and buildings from days long gone.

About 18km from the start of the ride there's a turn off to the left to The Skippers Bridge, Skippers Point, and the Mount Aurum Conservation Area where there are several historic buildings and a nice safe spot to park the bikes and stretch the legs.  There's a parking area at the end of the road, and a track from there further on to the old buildings. Several of the buildings are open to the public and have interesting historic displays.  Well worth visiting.

The road continues another 15 or so kilometres to the The Branches Station where the public road ends.  The Station gates are just beyond the green paddock in the picture below (click on the picture for a larger image) ...

The road apparently continues on private property through The Branches Station.  We stopped at the gates to The Branches Station, but would be tempted if we were to make this trip again to check out the possibility of continuing on further up the valley.

There's some challenging riding on this trip - some narrow sections with no guard rails and steep banks falling away to the valley below, lots of corners that need careful negotiation, and places where the road surface is muddy and slippery.

But it's a beautiful ride, one of the best days motorcycling we've had. Well worth the effort.