Grade
EasyDistance
7.5kmWalking
2 hourCycling
30 min
Lytton West Village is a small but busy shopping centre servicing a relatively new subdivision that includes the Beetham and Kiri Te Kanawa retirement villages.
Park in the village and start your walk or cycle in either direction.
Head along Potae Avenue with its modern houses and neat gardens, and the dense housing of the retirement villages, before moving into lifestyle blocks along Ruth Street, then the older, established Nelson Road properties.
Take the Campion Road pedestrian bridge to Campion Road then Gladstone Road, the busy main arterial road and entrance to Gisborne from the west.
Attractive, older homes border Aberdeen Road and overlook the Taruheru River. Ayton Park is an established shady park with big trees and a well-maintained playground. Note the tidal currents when crossing the Taruheru River again on the Stanley Road pedestrian bridge, and Mangapapa Stream on the Grundy Road bridge to Stout Street. The pretty Emily Street Park provides a welcome rest stop on the way back to Lytton West Village with one more stream crossing, this time on Lytton Road.
The part of this circuit closest to the Taruheru River is proposed to become part of Te Ara o Taruheru - an off-road shared trail which will make walking, cycling and scooting to school much safer for school students.
Lytton West Village - Te Hapara - Riverdale loop
Lytton West Village - Te Hapara - Riverdale Loop
History of the trail
The Lytton Road crossing of Mātokitoki Stream was referred to as the "tortuous Lytton Road dip" in November 1973 when a culvert was installed to replace the ford crossing . Before the culvert was installed, vehicles were occasionally flooded as they tried to cross the ford during heavy rain. Lytton Road continued to drop down to this crossing until a larger culvert was installed, the dip removed and Lytton Road levelled. After upstream and downstream edges of the Mātokitoki Stream were badly scoured in Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023, major protection works were built to cope with an anticipated increased flood flow.
Tips & Logistics
Lytton West Village has public toilets and shops where you can buy snacks, ice creams or dinner.
Playgrounds along this circuit are Ayton Park, Atkinson Street Park and Emily Street Park.
During school term time, Lytton Road is extremely busy between 8am to 8.30am and 2.45pm to 3.20pm, specially at the Aberdeen Road intersection.
The anti-clockwise route follows Potae Ave - Joanne Street - Gwenyth Place - Ruth Street - Nelson Rd, then Elsdon Best Street, across Campion pedestrian bridge to Gladstone Rd, left into Aberdeen Road, across Lytton Road, left into Balfour Road, across Ayton Park to an alleyway connecting to Fergusson Drive (diagonally opposite the playground), along Fergusson Drive, then left into Aberdeen Road, left into Stanley Rd, over Stanley Road and Mangapapa Stream pedestrian bridges to Grundy Street, across Dalrymple Road to Atkinson Street (or along the Atkinson Street Riverside Reserve), left to Stout Street, right at Charles Street, left into Emily Street, then right into Lytton Road back to Lytton West Village.