Craigieburn Sidle 73 Track
Craigieburn Forest Park · Canterbury
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. DOC’s own wording: “Dogs allowed. Keep dog under control at all times. Other pets on conservation land rules”. 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 Craigieburn Sidle 73 Track
Craigieburn Sidle 73 Track is a short walk of 1.2 km, near Craigieburn Forest Park in Canterbury.
Sidle 73 leaves the Craigieburn Picnic Area, the car park shared with Mistletoe Flats Campsite, and runs northeast across the hillside to come out on the Craigieburn ski field access road not far above the highway turnoff. DOC calls it 1 km one way and about 20 minutes; the mapped line measures 1.2 km, so roughly 2.5 km if you walk it out and back from the picnic area, which is how most people with a dog will do it. Part of it uses an old 4WD track and it is built to intermediate grade for walking and biking. It is not the route to Helicopter Hill: that one shares this trailhead but heads the other way, up Mistletoe Track to Lyndon Saddle. DOC names this a shared use area where walkers and mountain bikers mix, and on a blind sidle that is the real reason to keep your dog in close, whatever the rule says. Dogs here are under control rather than on a lead, but clip the lead on inside Mistletoe Flats Campsite at the trailhead, where DOC’s wording is dogs on a leash only. Wasps are about from January to March, the sidle is exposed and hot in summer and holds snow in winter, and much of the beech forest around the campsite was damaged in the December 2024 fire. Kea live in this valley and are fully protected, so do not feed them. Worth knowing before you plan a second walk: dog access in Craigieburn is set track by track, not park wide. Avoca Valley Track in the same park is marked no dogs, so read the DOC page for whichever track you pick next.
Graded easy, it climbs about 31 m overall, and takes about 17 min to walk.
Dogs are welcome here. This walk is on the map because Lisa & Ruby suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.
