The Tongariro River Trail officially begins in the town centre at the Information Centre where you can pick up a brochure showing its route and points of interest although a good starting point on the actual track is at the end of Koura St near the Major Jones swingbridge.
As a result of the track improvements completed in 2013, the entire 15km figure-of-8 trail is now also a superb recreational-standard mountain-bike track that can be covered in as much over an hour as you want it to – the only places that can't be ridden are the few steps and/or barriers at the 2 swingbridges.
The trail can be split in two at the Major Jones swingbridge and each circuit can obviously be done in either direction. Although the cache is only a short walk or ride up the track from the bridge on the southern loop, the cache name will only really become apparent riding back down the track towards Major Jones.
Since the track is shared with walkers, it is NOT a mountain-biking race track. However, the 230m of track down the hill from GZ to the 'chicane' (barrier) can be quite a buzz ridden at speed! The track curves gently with good visibility so it's easy to check first for walking obstacles. After stopping for a breather, finding the cache and signing the log, the blat down the 230m 'back straight' is a good way to blow away the cobwebs just before emerging from the bush onto the reserve. Here the track forks left, towards Taupehi Rd, and right, along the stopbank back to the bridge.
The cache is a small (about 100ml) pill bottle containing just a waterproof log sheet so you'll need to BYO pen. The bush canopy here can affect GPS reception but the hint should limit the search area. Please return it carefully so that it remains out of sight of passing muggles.