EXPLORING LAKE TAYLOR
Wingfoiling and Mountainbiking
After a fantastic summer season in the South Island, at the end of March it was getting time to start our annual migration north.
Lake Taylor and Lake Sumner just south of the Lewis pass were always a tempting destination on the map, but we had never been there. Looking at a map, it seemed to have good potential to catch the Northwesterly and the Easterly winds, similar to Lake Clearwater. So with a bit of time up our sleeves, we decided to head into Lake Taylor and explore it for its potential as a wingfoil destination. Here is what we found:
Getting to Lake Taylor:
It’s a long way in from SH7 (Lewis Pass Road), and it is the same way out again. Coming from the south, you’d turn off the main highway at Waikari, coming from the north you turn off at Hurunui. From there it is small sealed roads for a while roughly 20km), before turning eventually into a gravel road for the last 40km. The scenery along the road is absolutely stunning. It follows more or less the Hurunui River, sometimes winding its way high above the river with steep drop offs, sometimes meandering along low in the wide open bed of the braided river. No problem for our Toyota Hiace van, but in a big motorhome, you would want to take it slowly and hope not to meet too much oncoming traffic (not that it is a busy road……). The gravel part itself took us 60 minutes.
Camping:
There is a basic DOC campsite (longdrop toilet, non-drinking water) right at the edge of Lake Taylor. When we arrived, it was a beautiful calm and sunny weekend, and the campsite was fairly busy with boaties and 4WDers. However, come Sunday afternoon, we were mostly by ourselves for the rest of the week, with sometimes 1 or 2 other campers turning up.
If you have a high clearance 4WD, you could carry on another 8km along the shore of Lake Taylor and over the saddle to Loch Kathrine, where there is another basic DOC campsite and some colourful baches.
There are also a few possibilities to freedom camp along the shore of Lake Taylor on route to Loch Kathrine, though I’m not sure if they are legal. In any case, unless you have a high clearance 4WD, the DOC campsite at Lake Taylor is the end of the road for you.
Wingfoiling:
Lake Taylor isn’t particularily big and has a bit of a dog leg in the middle. It is oriented NW – SE, with relatively steep hills on it’s sides. The usual wind we encountered blows either onshore down the lake (Northwest wind) or offshore (Easterly). We were there relatively late in the season (end of March) for the thermal winds, so the Easterly didn’t get strong enough to make it exciting. The Northwest came in alright but was a bit gusty at times. You can tack up to the top end of the lake, where the water is nice and flat, but even at the campsite end of the lake, the waves didn’t get big.
Water temperature was around 18-20 degrees at the end of March, warm enough for us for a dip after a MTB ride to wash off.
Mountainbiking:
If you look at a map, there is plenty of tracks around the Lake Taylor area. However, most of them are 4WD tracks, and a lot of them are on private land.
The most popular track to ride, which isn’t on private land, is along Lake Taylor to Loch Kathrine and then further to Lake Sumner. You can carry on riding up along the Hurunui River past the locked gate (that’s where vehicles are not allowed in anymore). Bring a sleeping bag and stay in one of the huts or soak in the Hurunui Hot Springs, which are just off the track. We didn’t make it that far up as we did get distracted by a wild plum tree at Loch Kathrine…..
Another ride we did was a clockwise loop from Lake Taylor to Lake Mason and then further on to Lake Sumner and back out via Loch Kathrine. This track crosses private land (Lake Taylor Station) and landowner permission is required. I’m not running a GPS, so I cannot tell you exactly how long the ride is or how much climbing is involved, but I’d say it’ll be around 25km. While it didn’t appear to be THAT much climbing, the climbs were brutal (all 4WD tracks). Yes, an E-bike would be helpful, but then you would be cursing it on the push and carry section along Lake Mason where there is no track through the windfall…… The scenery is stunning, the tracks are all farm tracks, no single track. The ride was a lot harder than I expected.
Hiking:
There are plenty of great hikes in the area, though none of them starts directly at the campsite. Most of the hikes are also rather multi-day hikes if you want to do them as a loop. If you want to hike directly from the campsite at Lake Taylor, pick a hill you want to climb and remember to get permission from the landowner!
Conclusion:
Would we go in again to Lake Taylor? It depends, there are still plenty of other places to explore for us! We did spend nearly 10 days in the area, so it must have been pretty good….. though it is a long way in. Make sure you have all the supplies you need.
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