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Price Guide:     (Average price per person: $100 - $200)

Average Rating:   (10 votes)

What could be better than riding on horseback through verdant West Coast native bush as you gaze up at 300-foot-high limestone cliffs, or strolling your horse through the fresh West Coast surf to view the magnificence of the Pancake Rocks.

Punakaiki Horse Treks offers invigorating and enjoyable horse riding in a natural and safe environment suited to all levels of riders.

The experienced guides at Punakaiki Horse Treks run regular horse treks that leave morning, afternoon, and early evening - the ideal time to catch the stunning West Coast sunset.

Punakaiki Horse Treks runs a 2.5 hour horse trek into the Punakaiki Valley and along the beach to the Pancake Rocks. Punakaiki Horse Treks also offer personalised treks for riders who would like extra tuition or a horse ride designed to their capabilities. Young children can enjoy led-rides on the beach.

Beginning their popular 2.5 hour horse trek, they ford the Punakaiki River and take the scenic route to view the stunning scenery of the Paparoa National Park. The riders go through native bush to view huge limestone bluffs capped with lush temperate rainforest.

Native Kereru wood pigeon can sometimes be seen swooping low through forest corridors. Paradise duck, the nosy weka and gorgeous-plumaged pukeko are common onlookers, and oyster catchers, spur-winged plovers and harrier hawks are also visible. Birdlife is a stunning feature of the New Zealand native rainforest and riders can quietly observe their lives from horseback.

The trek group makes a stop on the river flat at a bush hut for a stretch and photographs, before wending their way back to the coast. This scenic feast is rounded off with a stroll down Punakaiki beach. Riders can experience the powerful sea rolling onto the famous Pancake Rocks, as they sit on horseback with the horses snorting at the salt spray from the waves.

Punakaiki Horse Treks offers experienced, friendly guides who provide quality service with an emphasis on rider safety and elementry horse riding tuition. The helmets and wet weather gear for the treks are provided and riders are advised to wear long trousers and closed-toe shoes with a slight heel (walking boot).

NB: The horse treks are closed for some winter months.

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