Mākara Peak
Mountain Bike Park development

Once gorse covered hills, Mākara Peak is now Wellington’s award-winning mountain bike park. In 2024, it received the Recreation Aotearoa Outstanding Park award for its development, recognising the park’s outstanding natural environment. Located south of Karori and boasting 45 kilometres of hand-built tracks across 250 hectares, this land has come a long way since it was purchased by Wellington City Council as retired farmland in the 1990s.

The park recently celebrated 25 years of development and ecological restoration thanks to the Mākara Peak Supporters volunteer group working in partnership with Wellington City Council. This project has recruited thousands of volunteers working over 4,500 hours, planting over 60,000 native trees, controlling pest plants, maintaining more than 650 traps and building over 45 kilometres worth of tracks.