Local horse riders are saddling up and heading into the forest following the creation of a new two-kilometre trail that takes them between the pines to the beach.
The track had been planned to connect the equestrian park on Rough Island to the beach on Rabbit Island, but Tasman District Council reserves officer Steve Richards says the narrow causeway connecting the two islands did not have the room to create a safe track beside the road at that point.
That led to the trail commencing at the beginning of the boat ramp road with an area to park floats. Now the horse-only trail is tucked behind a couple of rows of pine trees and follows the road down to the beach, and also connects with Monaco Rd which borders the beach.
Rough Island Equestrian Park president, Sharon Higgins, rode the trail on her pinto, Mollie, last week and says it is fantastic to have a new ride in the forest without dogs or bikes. Though the trail does not extend through to Rough Island, she says many riders will be happy to ride from the equestrian park and over the causeway to connect with the new trail.
“I think it’s lovely; fantastic. Everyone is pretty excited about it in an environment where we have been losing access and it’s really positive that we’ve been given a new one. It’s thanks to Steve for all his hard work to drive the trail and a huge number of people are thanking the council for the trail on social media.
“Now we can park at the equestrian park and ride all the way down to the beach with only one little spot by the road. It’s also nice having a couple of kilometres to ride before getting onto the beach because sometimes you can have some interesting times if you start out fresh on the beach.”
Sharon says there are still not enough places to ride horses out on trails in the region and riders are losing access to “the great Kiwi outdoors”.
At this stage, Steve says there is no access further into the forest without a permit under the current management plan, which is due for a review in 2026. Forest access permits can be obtained for special events and he says horse riders have done that in the past for trail riding events. He acknowledges horse riders are keen for more places to ride.
“We get a lot of people contacting us about where else can they ride their horses.”
He says Rough Island is available for horse riding but it is a shared-use area and all users need to be respectful of each other. At Tunnicliff Forest by Wai-iti Recreation Reserve near Wakefield, riders will again be able to ride their horses once the forest is harvested. The banks of the Waimea River are also available for horse riding and he says the Waimea River Park review has just got underway and consultation with the user groups has not begun. He says horse riders will be invited to make submissions soon, once the submission process is set up.
Meanwhile, Sharon says she will be encouraging horse riders to work together and make submissions on Rabbit Island’s forest management plan when it is reviewed as there is so much more potential for riding trails through the forest.
“Trail riding through pine forests has multiple benefits. It has shade from the hot summer sun and soft footing for barefoot horses. It would be really nice to have more horse-accessible trails made available within the forest on the island.”
In some areas, she says, it should be possible to have trails for horses, dogs, walkers and bikers within the same forest, and the Hanmer Springs Heritage Forest bridle path is a good example of that.
