Mountain bikers on the Deans Bank Track.

Cycle track service standards

Introduction

Standards for new and existing off-road cycle tracks on land managed by the Department of Conservation. Includes dual use pedestrian and cycle tracks.

Published: October 2020

These standards focus on existing tracks, but also cover construction of new tracks.

They draw on the design specifications for off-road cycle trails set out in:

  • New Zealand Cycle Trail Design Guide (5th edition, August 2019), and 
  • New Zealand Mountain Bike Design and Construction Guidelines (May 2019).

These documents have different purposes and are more focused on designing and constructing new tracks. DOC’s service standards, however, are generally consistent with both, particularly key aspects such as gradient.

The standards adopt the commonly used mountain bike track grading system (grade 1 to 6). A nationally consistent assessment/inspection process for cycle tracks will be developed to ensure grading of tracks is accurate and meets cyclists’ needs.

Download the standards document

Cycle track service standards (PDF, 2,880K)

Disclaimer

We are making the document/s available outside DOC to share our best practice. Any use by members of the public is at their own risk and DOC disclaims all liability in reference to that risk.

The document/s were written for DOC staff and may include DOC-specific terms and reference internal documents only accessible to DOC staff. You may need further help to do the work described and also need to get authorisation. Caveats may apply.