Construction on the cycle trail linking Cromwell and Queenstown is advancing, with an opening date now scheduled for early 2026.

Southern Lakes Trails announced the Kawarau Gorge Trail is expected to open towards the end of the summer season, around the end of the first quarter.

Alongside the timeline update, the trust outlined specific risks associated with the route.

Officials stated the trail is a backcountry experience in complex terrain and will not be a “simple walk in the park".

Users will need to be prepared for a remote environment with few exit points. 

The trust said once on the trail, the only options will be to return the way users came, continue forward, or be evacuated by helicopter in emergencies.

Three new suspension bridges - spanning 108 metres, 82 metres, and 70 metres - will be constructed early next year, with the sequencing designed to discourage public access into partially completed

sections.

Southern Lakes Trails chair Aaron Halstead outlined the engineering achievements in the gorge to date to provide future access for recreational users.

"The team is continually amazed by the innovation and dedication of the crew, who are meeting challenges head on by building bridges across a major river without easy access, helicoptering diggers

into location, building bluff bridges capable of carrying machinery and creating a trail around one of the gnarliest highway bluffs in the region," Aaron said.

He said the team is constructing stacked stone abutments and shaping the trail to sit naturally within the terrain.

Aaron said they were "following the path of the early settlers, preserving and enhancing the ecology and working with the terrain to build a trail that will last for generations".

Early modelling suggests the trail could exceed the rider numbers of the Lake Dunstan Trail, which attracted 80,000 riders in its first year.

Southern Lakes Trails chief executive Janeen Wood described the project as a generational investment.

"The team can't wait to deliver this world class trail to locals, visitors and the wider biking community,” Janeen said.

“The Kawarau Gorge Trail is a giant leap towards a unified regional trail network.”

To support the long-term stewardship of the asset, the trust is expanding its "Track Pack" supporter programme to help fund maintenance.

Janeen said that "for everyday trail users - riders, runners and walkers - this is their chance to pay it forward".