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With over 250 kilometers of trails to explore, ranging from easy walks to backpacking in the backcountry, the Waitakere Ranges are a prime place for hiking adventures. One beautiful, not-too-difficult hike is to Kitekite (or Ketekete) Falls. Several walks begin at the same trailhead, but the one to Kitekite Falls has the best outcome. Through native forest, along a burbling stream, listening and/or viewing the native birds, it is a pleasant, peaceful walk and a good way to stretch the legs and clear the cobwebs out of your head.
Kitekite Falls is an interesting site in that at the top of the falls, you can see notches in the rocks where the old Glen Esk Dam was located. The dam was a Kauri dam, a common type that was used during the west coast's logging boom. Dams were built on streams to build up a reservoir that would provide the force to drive cut logs down stream once the dam was released. At Kitekite Falls, the first attempt to drive logs down the falls resulted in their destruction on the rocks below. That method of driving logs from the top of the falls was abandoned and from then on, the dam was only used to flush the logs waiting in the stream below down to the mill.
A nice little interpetive walk begins near the Arataki Visitor Center just outside of Titirangi. The nature trail is 1.6km long and takes about 1 hour to walk, if you're slow and reading the names of all the plants and trees on the helpful signs. The track features both regenerating and mature forest, including large kauri trees and viewpoints. And if you're a forestry or plant nerd, ask the park ranger at the Centre for an illustrated guide to the common trees and plants you can see in the Waitakere Ranges.
Updated Apr 4, 2011
Address: All about the Waitakere Ranges
A few miles further north is Piha. This is considerably (relatively speaking) more developed than Karekare - a couple of shops, a campsite and a small hotel.
The beach here is glorious and you can walk for miles.
Updated Sep 20, 2005
The volcanic black sands are 40% iron ore - impossible to walk on at the height of summer without some kind of footwear.
Its splendidly isolated, only the occasional surfer. But there are also beauifully isolated and quite spots.
Updated Sep 20, 2005
The most obvious start for any trip into the ranges is the visitor centre. This is apparently regarded as one of the best in NZ. And its certainly full of useful information - ranging from walks and accommodation in the area right through to details of the history of the area.
Open 9-5, it is sited overlooking the reservoir, the distant coastal flats of western Auckland as well as the Waitakere Ranges themselves. Formerly grazing land for one farmer, the land below the centre is being left fallow, allowing the natural vegetation to reclaim what was, only a few decades ago devoid of virtually all bush to enable sheep and cattle to graze freely.
Updated Sep 20, 2005
Phone: 09 817 7134
Bethells Beach is dramatic black sand, and it does get VERY hot in the summer. Very good walks on the beach, and as you can see from the photos amazing views...
this is a must stop if you are out west auckland.....
Xena Warrior Princess was filmed in Bethells, more info look at this web site.
Written Jan 30, 2005
Website: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/Xena/bethellsbeach.html
5 minutes walk from the beach is this waterfall. Area provides some 40% of Auckland's water. This was out of season, so not that dramatic.
Written Jun 12, 2003
The very place Holly Hunter played the piano. Reached along the Scenic Drive from Arataki Visitor Centre (along roads that were only sealed a few years ago - that's how isolated the area is) and down a steep incline that was incredibly hacked out of the cliff by the farmer who lived at the bottom on the coast. The story is that apparently, sick to death of reliance on the stormy seas to get cattle to market he 'built' the track up to the top and promptly bought a vehicle (1920s). Got home to the bottom, realised there was no petrol at home and, allowing for the petrol to gather in one corner of the tank, reversed all the way back! Considering this road keeps the 21st century driver alert, this would have been no mean feat in the 1920s!
Written Jun 12, 2003
Helpfulness
Be sure to visit some of the western beaches not so far from the Waitakeres. The wild winds and sea combined with the unbelievable black sand makes for a truly unique experience.
Written Feb 25, 2003
Helpfulness
Don't miss taking a drive out to the coast and see the wild sea and black iron sand. These friends are at Bethells Beach, but there are many beaches along the coast.
Written Feb 25, 2003
The Waitakere Ranges are a beautiful bushclad range of hills to the West of Auckland and near to the western coast. There are a lot of houses nestled in the bush, a lot of them have lovely views over...
Waitakere Ranges & 'The Piano'
To the west of Auckland are some of the most dramatic beaches around. Unlike the Hauraki Gulf, which is protected by the Coramandel Peninsula, the Tasman Sea comes crashing in on the shoreline (next...
Within viewing distance of Auckland, and technically still within its limits, the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park is the jewel of the city. Encompassing 16,000 hectares of forest and coastline, and...
Not many cities in the world can boast a wilderness on their doorstep. The Waitakere ranges offer around 250kms of walking and tramping tracks, untouched native forest, waterfalls and on the coast,......
Build your own Waitakere Ranges page
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