Queenstown's Only Craft Beer Bike Tour: Riding the Ale Trail Back from Arrowtown
Queenstown's only self-guided craft beer bike tour. A 10am pickup from 43 Camp Street out to Arrowtown, then a ride home along the Queenstown Trail past Millbrook, Gantley's, Canyon and Searchlight — two route options, food along the way, and plenty of ways to finish.
Gibbston gets the glory. Every second visitor to Queenstown rides the wine trail, clinks a glass of Pinot at a cellar door and goes home happy — and fair enough, we run that tour and we love it. But ask the crew at Going Blue which ride they'd do on their own day off, and you'll get a different answer: the Ale Trail.
It's the only self-guided craft beer bike tour in the Whakatipu Basin. Not the biggest. Not one of several. The only one. Nobody else in Queenstown or Arrowtown runs a brewery-themed ride, which still surprises us, because it might be the best day out in the basin.
How the day runs
We pick you up at 10am from 43 Camp Street — bang in the middle of town, so most people can just walk to it. If getting into town for 10am is a hassle we'll come to your door instead; just say so when you book. Either way you and your bike get driven out to Arrowtown, and from there the day is yours. The direction is simple: you ride back.
There's no guide at your shoulder and no bus timetable deciding how long you get anywhere — but you're not on your own either. We're on WhatsApp the whole day, checking in, and we'll come and get you if anything goes sideways.
The direct way home is around 23km, almost all of it off-road on the Queenstown Trail network and flat-to-gentle the whole way. Ride the full distance back to the shop and you'll clock closer to 30km. Don't fancy the last stretch? Tell us and we'll collect you from any stop along the route — there's a small charge for that, and plenty of people take it.
Start in Arrowtown
If you've never been, Arrowtown alone justifies the trip. It's a gold rush town that never got knocked down — a single main street of 1860s timber and stone shopfronts, tin-roofed miners' cottages, and the restored Chinese settlement down by the Arrow River, where Cantonese miners lived and worked through the 1880s. In autumn the whole valley turns copper and the place is genuinely one of the most photographed spots in the country.
Have a wander before you clip in. Buy a coffee, walk the river, look at the cottages. There's no rush — the clock is yours until 4.30pm.
Eat before you ride, too. AB Bakeries does a $10 bacon sandwich that is, no exaggeration, the best you can buy anywhere in the district — that alone is worth being in Arrowtown early for. Ferg Butchery just up the road does a smaller breakfast bap for around $21 with a better sausage in it, if you'd rather pay for quality than size. Yes, that Ferg — same family as the Queenstown burgers, and worth the five or ten minutes you'll usually wait.
Two ways home
Route 1 is the classic. Out of Arrowtown and down the trail, with Millbrook early on if you fancy an early lunch somewhere polished, then Gantley's, Canyon Brewing and Searchlight strung out along the way home. Gantley's and Canyon both do proper food — and Canyon sits right on the Shotover with the jet boats tearing past, which is worth the stop on its own.
Route 2 is the long one, and it's the prettiest riding in the district. Take the north side of Lake Hayes down the countryside trail — the lime green one on the map — to the historic Lower Shotover Bridge, round Tucker's Beach, across the new Shōtover bridge at Kāwarau, through the tunnel and out to Arthur's Point, then on to Gantley's or Canyon. It's the newest trail we've got around Queenstown and it adds real distance, so it's the pick if you'd rather ride than sit.
The bikes
You're on Giant or Trek. The standard mountain bike is a Trek Marlin 6 — a genuinely lovely bike, not a rental compromise. Our Giants are the 2026 models, this season's fleet rather than something that's done four summers of hire work. Take the Marlin if you want to earn the day, or a premium e-bike if you'd rather the hills disappeared — and we carry plenty of spare batteries, so range is not something you need to think about. On an e-bike the whole route is genuinely easy, which makes it the pick for groups with mixed fitness. Nobody gets dropped, nobody waits at the top.
Groups, stag dos and work trips
This is a very good answer to a few questions Queenstown gets asked constantly. Planning a stag do that isn't a bar crawl? A hen party where everyone actually talks to each other? A work trip that needs one activity the whole team can do regardless of fitness? This is it — a full day outdoors, self-paced, with a shuttle at both ends and no minibus schedule to obey.
Big groups are no problem. Tell us the number and we'll sort the vans, the bike sizes and the timings around it.
How the day ends
Most of the sitting-down happens at the back end of the day, which is exactly how it should work — the riding is done and town is close. Finish at Searchlight and we'll collect the bikes there, no charge, it's an easy pickup for us. Want collecting from Canyon or Gantley's instead? That's a small extra fee. Or ride the whole way in and finish at the Queenstown Gardens on Park Street, or come right back to the shop on Gorge Road and we'll get you into town from there. Plenty of options, depending on how the day has gone.
Ride sensibly
One honest word of advice. This is a bike ride with good stops on it, not a pub crawl on wheels — and craft beer is stronger than most people expect. A cheeky one along the way is the spirit of the day. Anything past that and you're not riding, you're getting collected, which we're happy to do but it's a shame to miss the trail.
Pay attention on the approach to the Edith Cavell Bridge in particular — the last hundred metres down to it demands a clear head and both brakes. Ride to the conditions, and steer like someone who still has to.
Make it a double
The classic Going Blue weekend: Valley of the Vines through Gibbston on day one, Ale Trail on day two. Wine for the postcard, beer for the stories — and day two is the gentler of the pair, which is worth knowing if day one got away on you. And because breweries don't have an off-season, the Ale Trail runs year-round. It's our standing recommendation for a ski-trip rest day, when your legs want movement but not moguls.
10am pickup from 43 Camp Street, back by 4.30pm, any group size. Book your Ale Trail ride here — or get in touch and we'll build the day around your group.
