Bryant Road to the Wairoa Bridge
Brightwater · Nelson-Tasman · Point to Point
This walk was suggested by the community and checked against the authority quoted above before it was published. The route line comes from official track data. Tasman District Council’s own wording: “The following sections of Tasman’s Great Taste Trail are controlled exercise areas: Bryant Road carpark to the bridge to Pugh Road. Every dog shall be kept under the control of a responsible person, responding to voice commands, whistles, hand signals or other effective means. Dog owners must carry a leash at all times. Unless stated otherwise in the prohibited section or the controlled exercise section below, Tasman’s Great Taste Trail (TGGT) is a leash control area”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Bryant Road to the Wairoa Bridge
Near Brightwater in Nelson-Tasman, Bryant Road to the Wairoa Bridge runs 1.5 km as a point-to-point.
The Great Taste Trail section that leaves the Bryant Road end north of Brightwater and runs 1.5 km along the Wairoa River to the simple suspension bridge carrying the trail over to Pugh Road. This stretch is the reason to bring a dog: Tasman District Council names it in Schedule 5 of the Dog Control Bylaw 2024 as a controlled exercise area, one of a short list on the whole Great Taste Trail, so a dog can be off the leash here under effective control with a leash carried. The grant ends at the bridge. The bridge itself, the run on to Pugh Road, the rest of the Great Taste Trail and all of urban Brightwater are leash control. Lord Rutherford Park is the village parking option 1.6 km back through the streets, on the leash the whole way, and dogs stay off its sports fields and 10 metres clear of playground equipment and picnic tables. The longer river circuit locals describe, back down the Wai-iti stopbank to Waimea West Road, is not mapped here: that return runs on unnamed farm tracks through orchard and vineyard country with no published public access, so this walk turns around at the bridge.
It sits at the easy end and barely climbs, and takes about 18 min to walk.
Dogs are welcome here. This walk is on the map because Karen & Tux suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.