Bridle Path Track
Lyttelton · Canterbury · Out & Back
This walk comes from licensed public walk data and is being progressively confirmed against the authorities. Signs on the day always win. The rule-setter’s own wording: “Christchurch City Council's Bridle Path page is plain under Dogs: "Dogs must be on a leash at all times". (Christchurch City Council, Parks and gardens, Port Hills, Bridle Path, fetched 30 August 2026.) That covers the Bridle Path and the tracks the council lists with it, so the lead goes on at the bottom and stays on to the Summit Road”. Evidence: a hand-checked correction against the authority. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Keep them on the lead, watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Bridle Path Track
Near Lyttelton in Canterbury, Bridle Path Track runs 5.1 km as an out-and-back.
The Bridle Path was the route the first European settlers took from Lyttelton to Christchurch. It was hastily formed in 1850 to be traversed on horseback, as the name suggests, before the Summit Road was completed in 1857, and it still runs from Lyttelton up to the Summit Road and down into the Heathcote Valley. It is a shared use track, so expect mountain bikers coming downhill fast.
Graded hard, it climbs about 469 m overall, pitching up to 32 % at its steepest, and takes about 2.5–3 hr to walk.
Walkers come for native forest and big views. Dogs are allowed here, on the lead. Walkers rate it 4.5 / 5 across 306 reviews.
