Clay Cliffs, Omarama

The Clay Cliffs are a small but spectacular area of eroded cliffs visible from the Omarama - Lindis Pass Road.

Access to the cliffs is from the Omarama - Twizel Road (SH8) about 4 km north of Omarama travelling towards Twizel.

The Clay Cliffs are on private property, with free access accompanied by a request for a $5 honesty payment for each person.

This information is based on a trip we made in October 2009 in fine dry conditions.

Click here to link to the route on Google Maps.

Turn off State Highway 8 onto Quailburn Road and travel about 4 km on a sealed road to Henburn Road. Turn left onto Henburn Road, a well-formed unsealed road.

At the end of Henburn Road is a track which, when we visited on October 2009 had several sections affected by washouts.

On our adventure bikes we managed to get to within 50 metres of the cliffs.  The condition of the final several hundered metres of the track is likely to change with the season.

The Clay Cliffs are a type of formation is usually found in areas with an arid or semi-arid climate, and which experience infrequent heavy rain storms.  The silt and gravels must be compact enough to stand in steep faces, but soft enough to be eroded by running water.

The cliffs were formed from layers of gravel and silt deposited by rivers flowing from glaciers 1 to 2 million years ago. The bands of gravel and silt, which have been tilted since they were deposited first deposited, can be easily seen in the exposed cliff faces. The cliffs are much younger than the surrounding mountains which are about 250 million years old.  The gullies and pinnacles have been formed by weathering over thousands of years.

The Clay Cliffs are protected forever by a Queen Elizabeth II National Trust Open Space Covenant.

Ahuriri River Valley

A scenic 72 km ride (36km in, and 36km back out on the same road) in North Otago on generally easy unsealed roads with small sections of less easy riding.

The ride starts about 18 km from Omarama on the Omarama - Lindis Pass Road (State Highway 8) and follows the Ahuriri River Valley past Birchwood Homestead and on to the car park at Canyon Creek.

We made this trip in October 2009 in dry, fine conditions.  About 3 hours.

Click here to link to a route map on Google Maps.

The ride follows the Ahuriri River up the valley past the Birchwood Homestead and on to the Ahuriri Conservation Park.

The first 26km to Birchwood Homestead is a well-formed unsealed road, with easy riding 60 - 90 km/h.

The road is through open country and when we made the trip the road surface was good.

Google Maps shows the road ending at Birchwood Homestead, but the track continues another 8-10km across paddocks to the car park area near Canyon Creek.  This section of the road is classified as a 4WD track, with good reason.  You can see the 4WD track if you click the Google Maps link above and choose the satellite view.

Much of this part of the ride is on well-formed tire tracks across paddocks, mostly easy riding, but with some difficult sections where washouts have damaged or destroyed the road.  In the picture below the road used to be where the washout is, and a temporary track has been made through the bush to meet up with the track 50 metres further on.

When we were there in October 2009 all these damaged sections had rough but rideable makeshift tracks across or around the damaged areas and all could be negotiated with care.  I expect this the condition of this part of the track will change from year to year and season to season.

Information current as at October 2009.