Out the eastern end of Bay of Plenty, this is a beach run along Thornton Beach with a scenic coastal approach from just out of Matata through to Thornton. The route follows open sand that can be soft in places, so air down and come prepared. Keep an eye out for other beach users, as it can get busy.

The real draw sits across the river at Thornton cut, where a large 4WD dune park has an extensive network of open tracks for all difficulty levels, plus varying degrees of sand softness if you fancy testing yourself. Most people recommend getting into the dune system from the Thornton lagoon side and finding the tracks over the cut, rather than crossing the river directly.

It's a highly rated outing that pairs an easygoing coastal drive with plenty of hands-on dune options for all abilities.