Thread: Thompson's Track....Waikato,...closed for the winter

No vehicle access from Waikato side until late October/November....quad/SXS/motor bike gate closed as well.

Did hear they're making it into a mountain bike trail all the way to the other side. Any truth to that?

Got a key?

Can we still walk it on weekends or not?

Originally Posted by Friwi

Can we still walk it on weekends or not?

The entire track alignment is an unformed legal road. You can walk it any time you please. And, I imagine you could drive/ride it as well. Being as its a legal road I was not under the impression it could be closed, unlike other 4x4 tracks running through public (DoC) land that are NOT legal roads.

You can place a closure notice on a public road, you just need a good reason to do it. It seems fair to shut roads like that over winter if they do regular maintenaince on it the rest of the time. Which they don't.

yeah its a tough one those legal roads- if everyone just used a quad in winter or a motorbike be fine but back out Eastern Taranaki the bloody 4wd boys go out and just turn the track into a big mudhole in winter and then skite it took 10 winches to get thru - hunters have more respect for tracks in general than those clowns - and yes the local Council can close a legal road for a specified period of time - they tend to obey the local farmers who ask for the road to be closed and its a minefield to get them open again

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

yeah its a tough one those legal roads- if everyone just used a quad in winter or a motorbike be fine but back out Eastern Taranaki the bloody 4wd boys go out and just turn the track into a big mudhole in winter and then skite it took 10 winches to get thru - hunters have more respect for tracks in general than those clowns - and yes the local Council can close a legal road for a specified period of time - they tend to obey the local farmers who ask for the road to be closed and its a minefield to get them open again

Second this. Every time Thompsons track gets some maintenance and a tidy up the off-roaders carve it up at the first drop of rain and in a short period it's back to stuffed again for anyone without a winch. Last time I walked it a couple of young guys were donating their time in a digger to repair the track,all that work was undone by big tyres and egos next rainfall unfortunately.

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Barefoot

You can place a closure notice on a public road, you just need a good reason to do it. It seems fair to shut roads like that over winter if they do regular maintenaince on it the rest of the time. Which they don't.

Of course they will need at least four of those obnoxiously bright flashy light trucks that seem to be only there to blind motorists, a metric fucktonne of cones, an old bloke with a hardhat and a clipboard, 7 rest rooms and a spaniel.

Originally Posted by Gibo

Got a key?

Those in the know, know.

Originally Posted by blake

Second this. Every time Thompsons track gets some maintenance and a tidy up the off-roaders carve it up at the first drop of rain and in a short period it's back to stuffed again for anyone without a winch. Last time I walked it a couple of young guys were donating their time in a digger to repair the track,all that work was undone by big tyres and egos next rainfall unfortunately.

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

Just one weekend ago an organised group of quite a few bods did a cut back of vegetation on the track, they had access via EW's forestry road...no doubt they will be pissed at the track closure so soon after their effort....no doubt the dedicated rrrs'ols will cut fences to gain access around the new gate...the new gate is substantial and well made, but then I have seen forestry gates in a pile on the roadside in some places in Kaingaroa Forest...one advantage of the closure is without vehicles the deer will wander over it more making it easier to pop one off without too much effort.

Apart from the rescue earlier this year where we went via the EW track I havent been up there for years. Used to love riding the bike up there.