100% 4WD Track
The Big River road goes from Soldiers road to the Big River ghost town. It is an interesting 4wd track, with the odd decent hill, and is great in both directions. What this route lacks in views, it makes up for with historic sites and good terrain.
Description
You can start this ride in Reefton/Quartzopolis if you like but this adds a whole load of road and gravel to an otherwise interesting 4wd track. The track proper starts at the top of Soldiers Road which turns left off highway 7 about 1km outside the town. There is a carpark at the Alborns Mine walk about 7kms up Soldiers Road. The 4wd track turns off Soldiers road by a big Goldfields sign about 200m up the road.
The track is fairly easy as it gently rises for about 7kms passing numerous mines and the site of the Merryjigs pub. The track is in the trees the whole way so is fairly shaded. A fast, slightly loose descent is followed by a long climb up to some thinner vegetation then a nice windy descent along the valley to Big River. There are 2 river crossings before you reach what remains of the settlement. The awesome Big River hut can be seen high above the ghost town on the right. There are lots of signs, ruins, and mines to explore if you have a bit of time.
The return trip is more fun than the approach, the descents feel longer and the climbs don’t feel too bad.
You can extend the ride all the way to the old ghost town of Waiuta by following the singletrack from below the Big River hut. This track has had some work on it as of 2013 but a lot of it remains very challenging. We’ve found it wet, slippy and generally not pleasant the two times we’ve been on it and so haven’t got much further than half way from the big river hut.