The Mākara Peak Supporters
The Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park Supporters (often referred to as ‘the Supporters’) are a volunteer organisation that was established in 1998 and are made up of keen mountain bikers, runners, walkers and residents with a passion for Mākara Peak and a vision for a world class MTB park in regenerating native forest.
Since the park opened, the Supporters have worked in partnership with Wellington City Council to develop the park. Thousands of volunteers have donated their time to help build over 50kms of trails, planted tens of thousands of native plants, established a comprehensive trapping network to eradicate pest species and to encourage and restore our native flora and fauna.
The park
Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park was established by Wellington City Council in 1998, in conjunction with the Mākara Peak Supporters, and encompasses Mākara Peak which dominates the skyline at the south end of Karori.
With the largest trail network in the lower North Island, Mākara Peak has something for riders of all ages and abilities. There are wide, flowing singletrack with gentle gradients that are perfect for beginners, children and families. Plus there are some of the steepest, narrowest and gnarliest trails that challenge the experts.
Trails weave through 250 hectares of regenerating native bush, there’s a 72m swing bridge - the first of it’s kind in an urban mountain bike park in New Zealand - and panoramic views across Wellington Harbour, Cook Strait and the Upper South Island from the summit.
Long term plans
The development of the park is underpinned by two key documents that help inform decision making by the Supporters and Wellington City Council:
How to get involved and becoming a member
Mākara Peak Supporters, along with Wellington Mountain Bike Club, Brooklyn Trail Builders and Matairangi Trail Builders, is an affiliate member of Trails Wellington and joining Trails Wellington is one of the ways that you can financially support Mākara Peak.
Trails Wellington is the one-stop shop for trails and mountain biking in Wellington. By joining Trails Wellington, you become an affiliate member of Mākara Peak and support what we do, as well as the great work done around the region. Simply head over to their website or visit your app store to download their phone app (search Trails Wellington). Not only do you get the privilege of supporting the hard work of countless volunteers, you get a raft of sweet discounts at bike shops, pubs, breweries and other like minded businesses around Wellington.
In accordance with recent changes to the Incorporated Societies Act, as Mākara Peak Supporters we are now required to keep a register of all our members and to keep that list up to date. This list is independent of Trails Wellington membership, though we strongly encourage supporters of Mākara Peak to also be members of Trails Wellington. In addition to the benefits that Trails Wellington members receive from local partners, Trails Wellington membership also directly supports Mākara Peak and the wider Wellington trails community.
For anyone who would like to be a full member of Mākara Peak Supporters, please click here to go through to the Hivepass membership portal. Note that this is the same membership software that Trails Wellington uses and it is possible to be a member of both.
Every year, we will be in touch with you to make sure you still want to be a member of Mākara Peak Supporters. We’ll give you a couple of weeks to let us know if you do, but if we don’t hear from you, we will take you off the list. That way, we will know our register is up to date (and compliant with the law!).
Volunteering
Over 4,500 volunteer hours are spent developing and maintaining the Park each year. If you would like to help by digging trail or planting trees, check out details of our upcoming working bees on our Facebook page or email us makarapeak@gmail.com. For more information, head to our Volunteer page.
Mākara Peak Supporters’ constitution
Following the recent change in the law around incorporated societies like ours, we adopted a new constitution in May 2025. If you are interested in that sort of thing, feel free to have a read at the following link: Constitution of Mākara Peak Supporters Incorporated
The Supporters’ management committee
The Supporters’ management committee meets each month to discuss how the park can continue to improve, and organises activities in the park including coordinating volunteer work parties that build and maintain the trails, conservation activities such as tree planting and pest eradication, fundraising, events and other projects.
The management committee is supported by our Conservation sub-committee and Tracks sub-committee.
The Supporters’ Annual Report
Each year the Supporters produce an Annual Report outlining what’s happened in the park over the past 12 months and what’s planned for the next 12 months.
Over
80,000
Visits each year
over
35,000
native plants planted
in 15 years
Over
40km
of single track built
over
4,500
volunteer hours spent
developing and maintaining
the park each year
over
250ha
of regenerating native bush
Approximately
30%
of park users are
walkers or runners
