The Bike Auckland Discovery Map is here to help you discover what is in your local neighbourhood! From safe places where people of all ages and various abilities can build their bike skills and confidence, to Pump Tracks and Mountain Bike Parks that you can visit once we are out of lockdown. The Discovery Map also includes interesting places to stop at during your cycle – places with a stunning view, thought provoking public art, or historic places to explore. Tāmaki Makaurau is beautiful, and a joy to explore by bike!
Check out the map here. If there’s something awesome that you think should be on this map, please let us know about it through this form. Your local knowledge will help others to find awesome things in their local areas, and we value that highly.
Please note that pump tracks are closed during lockdown and under the Ministry for Health’s guidelines it is advised that you only mountain bike on easy (grade 1 and 2) local tracks during level 3 and level 4. Check this site for more information.
Once lockdown is over these facilities will be open once again, so it’s worth having a look through to see what’s near you, and what you’d like to check out. Personally, I was very excited to discover that there is a small mountain bike park near me, and had a lot of fun trying out the easy track!
How to use the map
Here is a guide on how to use this google map, from how to zoom, how to choose which categories are visible on the map, to more detail about the ‘routes by class’ and switching to satellite view. Scroll down to the part that is relevant for you.
Zooming and moving around
You can move which areas of the map are visible on your screen by holding down the left mouse button, and ‘dragging’ your mouse across/ up/ down. This will drag the map across/ up/ down. If you are on a cell phone you can move the map by simply swiping your finger on the screen in the direction you want to move the map.
If you double left click the map it will zoom in. You can double click over your local area to zoom in and see what is near your house. You can double right click to zoom out. On a laptop you can drag two fingers together up and down on your touchpad to zoom in and out. There is also a plus and minus symbol at the bottom left of the map, next to the legend, which you can use for zooming in and out. If you are on your phone you can zoom in by either double tapping the screen or drawing two fingers towards or away from each other on your screen. Moving your fingers in towards each other will zoom out, and moving two fingers away from each other will zoom in.
The legend and ticking categories
On the left hand side of the map is a legend. It shows you what the symbols on the map mean. Pictured on the Legend above is ‘Kids Learn to Ride’ (the ‘P’ in the blue circle), ‘Interesting Places’ (the star in a green circle), ‘Mountain Bike Park’ (the mountain in a teal circle), and ‘Pump Tracks / BMX Parks’ (wavy lines in a yellow-orange circle).
When viewing the map in the google maps app on your cell phone, to find the legend you first have to select an icon. If you are holding your phone vertically, tap on one of the symbols and its place name will show at the bottom of your screen. Tap on this place name and it will open a menu. If you are holding your phone horizontally, tapping an icon will open a menu on the left hand of your screen. For each of these orientations, under the place name it says ‘view map legend’. Tap on this to see the map legend. To leave the menu or legend and return to the map, tap the little leftwards arrow at the top left of your screen.
On the legend you can see that next to the category title “Pump Tracks / BMX Parks”, there is a little ticked box. You can ‘untick’ it by clicking the box, and the yellow circles representing the pump tracks and BMX parks will disappear from the map. If you click it again the box will be ticked and the yellow circles will reappear. You can use these tickboxes to see the categories that are important to you and to hide the ones you are not interested in.
Beneath the Pump Track / BMX Park category the next category says “Routes by class”. When this category is unticked (as shown in the image in the zooming and moving around section above) the text for ‘routes by class’ is light grey, and the routes do not appear on the map. If you click the square it will be ticked, the text will become black, and the routes will show on the map. As seen in the image below, a small legend also appears under the category when it is ticked.
Routes by Class
The legend under the ‘Routes by Class’ shows what the colours of the routes shown on the map mean. These routes are from the Auckland Bike Map which describes them as follows:
A – dark green: ‘Safe, off-road paths’ – this includes only safe, separated cycleways and shared paths. Suitable for all ages and abilities.
B – light green: ‘Cycle lanes and quiet streets’ – this includes painted cycle lanes on streets with a maximum of 50km/h as well as quiet local streets with minimal traffic and traffic calming
C – yellow: ‘Roads with moderate traffic levels’ – generally these are 50km/h roads with moderate traffic levels and/or space for cycling such as a regular shoulder. Also includes rural roads with higher speeds but very light traffic. Suitable for reasonably confident riders.
D – orange: ‘Busy Roads’ – roads with medium to high traffic volumes and limited space for cycling. Usually multi-lane roads or roads above 50km/h. Suggested only as short sections in urban areas or rural rides. Be prepared to dismount and use the footpath if it feels unsafe.
You can use these routes as guides for how to reach your destination, or to choose places to explore. The dark green lines show the routes the family friendly rides follow, and where you can access them from.
Selecting a location
To find out more information about a particular icon you can select it by clicking on it. In the picture above, the Pump Track / BMX Park icon in Devonport has been selected. This has turned the legend section on the left hand side into a column of information about this icon. As seen in the picture, it explains that it marks a Pump Track called “Woodall Park Pump Track”, its location, and comments that it is still “Under Construction”.
It was added to this map by a Devonport local (using this form) who wants other locals to know that this pump track will soon be in their neighbourhood!
Satellite View
At the bottom left corner of the legend is a small dark green textured box, shown in the picture below.
If you click this box it will change the base map into “satellite view” which enables you to see the parks, maunga, roads and paths, with the icons and routes overlaid. It will also have more place names, such as the nearby shops and the names of the parks and maunga. Satellite view can be helpful for seeing terrain, such as hills, street names, and for finding somewhere nearby to eat!
In satellite mode it can be difficult to see some icons and routes, such as the green and light green safe cycle routes. You can change it back to the previous view by clicking the blue and grey square at the bottom of the legend (this is in the same location as the green box that you clicked to go into satellite mode earlier).
To change to the satellite view in the google maps app on your phone, there is an icon at the top right hand side of your screen underneath where it says ‘groceries’. The icon looks like a diamond with an arrow under it, as seen in the images below. Tap this icon and a menu will appear. The menu includes satellite view as the second option. Tap on satellite view and close the menu using the little ‘x’ at the top right. You will now be able to see the satellite view. To change it back, tap the diamond icon again and tap the first option in the menu ‘default’. It will change back to the previous map view.
Also available in this menu is ‘map details’, including one labelled ‘cycling’. Tap on ‘cycling’ and all of the on road and off road cycle infrastructure that Google is aware of will show on the map, including painted cycle lanes. This might be helpful for planning cycling routes. If you open the menu and tap ‘cycling’ again this cycling infrastructure information will disappear from the map.
Looking at this cycling view on Google maps, it is clear how many of our cycling lanes and paths do not connect to each other. Auckland Transport – we need more connected routes. Make cycling around our beautiful city easier, safer, and more convenient. Empower more people to cycle; reduce emissions; and boost mental and physical wellness.
Sharing and adding to the map
At the top of the legend is a ‘share’ button so you can share the map with your friends. You can also share it by copy and pasting this link. Learning about local places to explore by bike will help people to build their confidence and bike skills.
To the left of the description at the top of the legend is a small downwards arrow (as shown in the picture). If you click on this the full description will be shown, which includes a link to let us know anything we have missed. If there is something wrong with a location’s listing, you can also let us know through that same form.
We hope you have lots of fun exploring the awesome bike-y things in your neighbourhood. This map will be frequently updated, so do check back!
