Offroad-Express

We did a trip through just after Christmas. No worries at all for 2 Suzuki's and a quad bike. Some pretty awesome scenery along the way. While the track itself wasn't anything particularly difficult I guess it's always a good idea to have another vehicle close by especially since its a 46km track.

Here's a video of some highlights. As always, best viewed at 720p.

You seemed to be moving pretty fast in most places.

Where do you enter and exit the trail?

How long does it usually take to drive the length of the traverse?

enter kepoors rd off highway 47 , exit Owhango highway4

daymo wrote:How long does it usually take to drive the length of the traverse?

It took us 3.5 hours one-way with a couple of snack/photo breaks.

crikey driving that fast , your lucky you didn't have a head on accident with a mountain bike !

looks awsome, cant wait to get up there.... once i have the zuki back together. would be more than happy to help with track clearing etc

UBZ wrote:crikey driving that fast , your lucky you didn't have a head on accident with a mountain bike !

suzuki...mountain bike, bout the same really

daymo wrote:How long does it usually take to drive the length of the traverse?

Looking at going through the 42 Traverse this weekend. How long on average does it take to drive through at a sensible pace? We'll be starting at Owhango and coming out at Kapoors Road.

I think most mt bikers and other users start at the other end. Its listed as a one way track from kapoors road on the doc website but other sites say "generally one way". Just don't wanna have a head on with someone else on the track.

We went through, started about 12.30 pm stopped to camp about 3.30, then started again at 8.30 and exited kapoors road end about 11am.
That was just cruising stopping to take photo's etc at the huts.

Should be a bit more fun now it's rained and snowed, so allow a little more time and don't forget to be prepared for semi deep water crossings if it has been raining recently. we went thru and the river made it up to my head lights which would be just under a meter

Cheers for the response guys.

Yea i'm keeping an eye on the weather as I was wanting to do an overnight trip, but the others that are coming with didn't like the idea of camping in the rain (which is fair enough), so I'm looking at doing a big day trip on Saturday with four vehicles.

I have been through once before a couple of years back, but couldn't remember how long it took us. We went from Owhango to Kapoors Rd. from memory, there was nothing stating it was a one way track. Obviously the track is quite narrow in some sections, so there is only room for one way traffic.

I think mountain bikers prefer to go from Kapoors Rd to Owhango as they can stop at the pub at the end for a refreshing beverage

And likely because theres more downhill in that direction. I can't find the one way thing now but yeah read it on fishnhunt ages ago so could be BS. We have taken quads in from both ends, we just don't crank along at full speed.

We won't be blasting through, plus with the weather the way it's been lately, I would think that the majority of the bikers would be staying at home for the weekend?

That looks like a cracking route and from the footage earlier in the thread not too difficult for somebody like me who is fairly new to a bit of off roading.

In you guys and girls experienced opinion do you think it would be suitable for a newbie like myself to tackle.....??

Not on your own, and remember tacks change quickly with a bit of weather on them.
So what looked ok in the video might be more of a challenge when you get there.
We have a trip that we do as a club here in the Wairarapa that took 14 hrs in August last year, and took 2 1/2 March this year.
Crash posted earlier that one of the river crossings was up to his headlights, you need to be ok with that kind of fun

Cheers

I had a report late last week that the 42 Traverse is very scratchy and my contact saw a couple of mountain bikers with scratched and bloody faces from the overgrowth.... probably the blackberry.

Thanks for the track info Pete.

My paint is at the point where I no longer care if it gets scratched up

Marco wrote:

daymo wrote:How long does it usually take to drive the length of the traverse?

It took us 3.5 hours one-way with a couple of snack/photo breaks.

About the same time as a mountain bike then

You wouldn't have a head-on, as they all go from the plateau down to Owhango, apart from 2 hills it feels as if you can coast the whole thing

bikes weren't a problem ,motor bikes and quads gave us a laugh

catalystracing wrote:Not on your own, and remember tacks change quickly with a bit of weather on them.
So what looked ok in the video might be more of a challenge when you get there.
We have a trip that we do as a club here in the Wairarapa that took 14 hrs in August last year, and took 2 1/2 March this year.
Crash posted earlier that one of the river crossings was up to his headlights, you need to be ok with that kind of fun

Cheers

Yup thats a fair point and if i was going to do it it would be with a club and one or two people who have driven this track before.....

Thanks for the info......

Was in there easter weekend, very dry and all good going, very bad over growth but with the weather weve had be a bit different now. Bit of a shiny so didn't go right through will take other truck next time I think.

When does the track close for the winter??, and reopen again. Looking at a club trip later in the year.

the dates and all the rest of the official info is listed on the Doc site

derk wrote:the dates and all the rest of the official info is listed on the Doc site

Cheers,

http://www.doc.govt.nz/42traverse

I'm trying to justify if 35" Silverstones are are bit overkill for this track in the wet or not. Weather looks to be very damp tomorrow morning..

I've got two hours on the road before we even start, so I don't want to be running the Silverstones for that distance (dangerous and chews them out). Would it be worth throwing them on the ute deck and doing a wheel swap at each end of the track or am I wasting my time?

If I was a bit closer, then I'd just drive them on the road no worries, but two hours each way is a bit far for my liking.

There are 3 other vehicles tagging along with me if that matters.

It's been too long since I've had these wheels on the ute and I'm just itching to use them again

Been about 8 years since I did it, it was on 33s, 31s would have been fine but was dry. But if you want to play, I can understand.

Mehrts wrote:I'm trying to justify if 35" Silverstones are are bit overkill for this track in the wet or not.

yes, yes it is.

Question regarding the One-Way status.
I am looking at doing it with a side by side - so I am guessing I will park the car and unload the trailer at one end, drive through on the side-by-side.
However getting back might be an issue - as the side-by-side is not road-legal so i cannot drive around the highway back to the car.

Am I safe to come back via the track? Are there passing points?
The doc website seems to show one-way but their PDF shows two-way
http://www.doc.govt.nz/Documents/parks- ... centre.pdf