Coromandel Forest Park Overview

The hills of the 72,000-hectare Coromandel Forest Park are tangled with regenerating bush, crawling with creepers, and laced with high waterfalls and small, fern-lined creeks. Deep within the hills that stretch up the peninsula’s volcanic backbone, old kauri dams and mine shafts are interspersed with the few remaining patches of original forest. Active efforts to replant native species are underway, as are rigorous pest management techniques (especially in the north, where opossums have not fully infiltrated). Regardless of the terrain, travelers should arm themselves with high-powered bug spray.

Getting to Kauaeranga Valley without your own car, motorcycle, or donkey can be quite difficult. The Sunkist Lodge runs a round-trip shuttle service ($25). Though Let’s Go does not recommend it, hitchhiking is common along Parawai and Kauaeranga Rd., especially on the weekends. Most hitchers wait in Thames at the corner of Bank St. Arrange a return ride or run the risk of getting stuck among the evergreens. The Kauaeranga Visitors Centre (DOC) is 13km up Kauaeranga Valley Rd., a winding half-paved road that branches off at the BP station at the south end of Thames. Be sure to stop here to pick up a helpful Kauaeranga Kauri Trail brochure ($1) and fill out safety registration forms before hitting the trails. (☎867 9080. Open daily 8am-4pm.)

DOC campsites 1 are liberally scattered throughout the valley, with eight off the road and three accessible by trails from the road’s end; the sites are cheap and basic ($9, children $4.50). The only hut in the area is the relatively upscale Pinnacles Hut with views, year-round warden, wood stove, gas cooking (bring your own utensils), 80 mattresses with fitted sheets, solar-powered lighting, and toilets. It’s about a 3hr. climb from the gravel’s end. (Book in advance at the visitors center; hut passes not applicable. Tent sites $7.50; hut $15, children $7.50.)

The Kauaeranga Valley is one of the most popular hiking spots on the peninsula, with a wide variety of walks leading off the main road. A 5min. hop from the visitors center leads to a scale model of the kauri dams that used to exist in the region. A walk to two of the valley’s only surviving large kauri stands departs from the Wainora campsite (2-3hr. round-trip). The Kauaeranga Kauri Trail heads up to Pinnacles Hut and the sheer, jagged bluffs of the Pinnacles themselves. It’s well worth the swing bridges and the thousand-step staircase through fern-laden bush, but the scrambling towards the end is challenging (6hr. round-trip from the road’s end.) An alternative to the Pinnacles walk is the Billy Goat circuit, which takes hikers part of the way to the Pinnacles and then loops back with great views of the Atuatumoe Falls from above (4-5hr. round-trip). Ambitious trampers can combine the Pinnacles walk with the return loop of the Billy Goat for the best of both worlds (8hr. round-trip). The Kauaeranga River, which runs along the road up the valley, sports tons of swimming holes. Find your own, or check out Hoffman’s Pool, 1km past the visitor’s center (☎867 9080).