Close your eyes. Try and picture New Zealand. What do you see? Is it endless picture-postcard mountains capped with snow and bathed in golden sunlight? Grey scree slopes dipping down to azure blue, glacial lakes? Now try and imagine what the best trail riding spot in the whole country looks like... Chances are that whatever image you have in your head, Rotorua isn't it. Underwhelming is the only word for when you roll into town. Especially if you have listened to riders talk about the trails around town, watched the videos of the downhill World Champs or, more recently, Crankworx. If that is what you have in mind, then chances are you arrive searching for the peaks and valleys that accompany most great riding destinations. Yet you cannot see what makes Rotorua great from space, on a map or even from a car as you drive through town.

Nestled on the shores of Lake Rotorua, it lies in the heart of New Zealand's North Island. The town itself is more or less unremarkable. Aside from the unusually high number of bikes and bikes shops lining the streets you'd be hard pressed to tell it apart from many of the other towns in the region. Since the late 19th century it has been a popular tourist destination, with people flocking to the geothermal spas that litter the area, yet that's probably not what you're hoping to read about here. Sitting at just 290m above sea level it's pretty low as far as riding destinations go, with the hills around it not going up much beyond the 600m mark. Although there is a gondola on one side of town it only goes up 200m, because it was originally built for a luge track, not mountain bikes or skiing. As strange as it may sound, it is precisely how normal Rotorua is that makes it such an essential destination.









As soon as you see the trail map for Whakarewarewa forest, Rotorua starts to look anything but normal. Beneath the lush forest canopy lies what can only be described as one of the best trail networks anywhere in the world. Part of what makes it amazing is how inclusive it is. Former club president and owner of shuttle company South Star Shuttles, Jeff Carter, explains, "We want to have amazing trails for everyone, at every grade of trail, from easy grade two (green) through to extremely technical six (double black) we want to have a variety of styles at every grade and try and make every trail awesome. For example, if you can only ride a grade three trail there will still be a selection of trails for you and we're trying to make them as awesome as possible. And then the same for the next grade, and the next grade so that we end up with a variety of trails." What's more, this entire network is legal, managed and maintained. Of course, trails are nothing without riders and there are efforts made to get everyone riding, whether it is working with the local kids to get them riding bikes at a young age, or the weekly Women's Wednesday nights on the shuttles that offer a supportive environment aimed at helping women find confidence on their bikes.

A lot of the time what this kind of inclusivity means is a softening of the trails for more advanced riders - seeing roots, rocks and gaps tamed and dumbed down in the name of health and safety. Yet not a trace of that is to be seen in Rotorua. Point your bike down a black or double black trail and you had better know what you're doing. Kiwis seem to love a nasty trail and Rotorua is no exception. Deputy Mayor, Dave Donaldson, who has been a driving force in Rotorua's growth as a trail destination understands the need for real trails, "If we want to attract enduro or downhill riders to Rotorua then we have to cater for them with the right sorts of trails. They don't to come and ride smooth, flowy, machine-built trails all the time."









Yet it is not just the trail network itself that is so amazing. Part of what makes Rotorua such an impressive trail destination is unseen: it is the context. In many ways New Zealand is a frustrating country for mountain bikers, land access is not easily won. Much of the country is privately owned, or controlled by the strict Department of Conservation. It is all too common a sight to see some stunning mountain, hill or valley only to be told by the locals that there are no trails there. So it is a huge victory for the local mountain bikers to secure and then develop a site like Whakarewarewa as a long-term consideration. It is hard to understate how much work has gone into just making sure there is land for trails to legally be built on. With its success they are starting to expand too, with a new site on the nearby Rainbow Mountain opening up recently to offer riders another option to get their trail fix. Dave Donaldosn and Jeff Carter as former mountainbike club presidents, and long-serving incumbent club president, Gregg Brown, are quick to acknowledge the important relationship they have developed with local Maori who regained ownership of the Whakarewarewa Forest. Gregg explains that "They are influential in guardianship (kaitiaki) roles over other public lands such as Maungakakaramea (Rainbow Mountain) Scenic Reserve. Their generous welcoming of locals and visitors alike is encapsulated in the beautiful maori word, ‘Manaakitanga' (translated, hospitality, kindness, respect). Without this, Rotorua would not be the destination it is today."

The benefits of mountain biking are starting to be seen by the wider local economy too. Dave Donaldson explains that, "We started having surveys done on the recreational use of the forest back in 2005 and the economic benefit of that. We had them done in 2005, 2007 after the World Champs, 2009 and 2013. I think there's another one being done now, there's certainly some economic survey work being done around Crankworx. Each one of those has shown an increase in mountain bike visitors to Rotorua. There was a big jump up in 2007 because of the World Champs lifting our profile, and between 2009 and 2013, mountain bike visits to the forest grew by 19% every year. In 2013 the economic benefit to the city was around the $12 million mark. There were 425,000 recreational visits to the forest every year. Another indicator is the Mountain Bike Rotorua hire facility. Those guys started three years back with 25 bikes and three full-time staff. Currently they have a fleet of about 130 bikes that run out regularly, even in winter on holiday weekends. They now have something like 20 full-time staff servicing that business."










All this so far is impressive, right? A stunning, ever-expanding trail network that is being recognised by all aspects of the local community. With those kind economic numbers being thrown around you could assume that they have a substantial budget and things are easy for them. You would be wrong. The single most important driving force behind all of this has been volunteers. People prepared to give their time to dig trails, negotiate settlements with land managers and owners, help plan and organise events, advocate for the sport with the local council and government and a million other things. It didn't happen overnight - there has been a healthy riding community in Rotorua since the mid 1980s, and progress has been slow at times, but they are getting there.

Rotorua is not blessed with heavenly proportions or Gods own topography. When you see destinations like Whistler or Morzine it is easy for many to be defeatist and pin their success to the landscape itself. You cannot do that here. Quite simply, it is a community of riders who have strived and persevered, who have toiled and laboured until they created something truly special. Every mountain biker should come here. Not just to ride the incredible trails, but to see what is possible if you are prepared to put the work in. It is a small model of just how successful our sport could be, and the main thing required is good people...










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