Old Dunstan Road

Old Dunstan Road is the name of a 4x4 track/Adventure riding track located in Otago South Island of New Zealand. In wet conditions, parts of the trail are unrideable because of sticky mud. Much of the route is only suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles or those with experience, and should only be attempted with a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon).

The road, also known as The Dunstan Trail, ranges from a sealed road to a graveled track. Old Dunstan Road starts from Clarks junction, around an hour from Dunedin on the way to Middlemarch. It’s 46 km (28.64 miles) long, running south-north and coming south at the Poolburn Dam, Upper Taieri-Paerau Road. The road was part of the original route called the Mountain Road taken by hardy people seeking their gold rush fortunes in the early 1860s, to travel from Dunedin to the goldfields in Central Otago.

The road is sealed at the start and turns to gravel after 9.2km. It then varies between gravel, clay, and bare rock. It is rutted and corrugated in places, slippery when wet, dusty when dry, and can be closed in winter by snow and ice. There is no shelter from the weather, which can change quickly, and it is bitterly cold in the southerly. Because of the fragile environment, vehicles and mountain bikes must keep to track.