Haven Mountain Bike Park is a 65 acre block of land just 30 minutes south of Christchurch nestled in beautiful Banks Peninsula.
It was purchased in May 2006 by Shailer with the purpose to build mountain bike tracks and plant trees as a way to give back to the sport and to get out of the big smoke.
The McQueens Valley Mountain Bike Club Incorporated was formed in June 2006 with the intent to build a world class mountain bike park in a restored native forest on this land. We achieved charitable status in July 2009.
This long-term vision will culminate in the land being available for the people of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand and Beyond to access intermediate level trails amongst native trees and plants on a historical piece of Banks Peninsula rock.
Currently the club has over 100 members from a diverse range of backgrounds but we are united by the desire to build great mountain bike trails and to give something back to the land and the cycling community.
Most of the land was cleared in 2000 for farming purposes but was never utilised and as a consequence scrub, in the form of broom, wilding pines and small patches of gorse, have taken over amongst the native trees and bushes that are regenerating.
If you want to come out and see what we have on offer, you are more than welcome to, in fact we encourage it, however regular access to Haven MTB Park for individuals is via membership of the McQueens Valley Mountain Bike Club. This is for a number of reasons:
- It is about rewarding and recognising the efforts of those who are making this happen. The cost is not prohibitive and it all goes towards future development and maintenance of the trails.
- This is private property as is all of our neighbours land. We all value the privacy and lifestyle that we all have here and membership allows us to facilitate access and manage expectations.
- The ability to control access will allow the tracks and trees enjoy the most benefit and provide us all with the most fun in the long term.
- Please do not explore the Valley as most of the Valley and surrounds are not accessible to the public.
- You must make contact prior to coming out, prior to joining the club. A very good map will be sent to you to ensure you get to the right place. We ask that you do not distribute the map without our permission.
- You can find out about joining here
- Community groups, schools, clubs may use the park for no charge, please contact us for more details around access.
- If you are visiting for a short amount of time or from far away please contact us as we are very happy to host you and show you about.
If in doubt, please contact us. We are on Twitter and Facebook.
To find out what the club’s been up to recently check out the journal and tracks pages.
As at May 2018, the club has built, either by hand or by our tiny digger, just over 29.5kms of track!
With surrounding tracks and forestry roads, there is close to 60kms of riding to be had.
This is increased even further by the adjacent Little River Rail Trail (44km return) and the nearby Living Springs trails (6kms).
More advanced riders will enjoy the Double Fenceline and the Monument Track
There are also many unsealed roads offering stupendous views on the Peninsula.