Last Updated: 6th Apr 2024
Te Tuhi Wairere Loop
Te Tuhi Track, North South track, Wairere Falls track
Last Updated: 6th Apr 2024
Open
Grunt Factor: 21 ?
Gnarl Factor: 25 ?
21.0km
500m
500m
520m
Last Updated: 6th Apr 2024
Te Tuhi Track, North South track, Wairere Falls track
Last Updated: 6th Apr 2024
Open
Grunt Factor: 21 ?
Gnarl Factor: 25 ?
21.0km
500m
500m
520m
Front country - easily accessible
Loop
Undulating, some big hills
With permit
Native bush
Riverside
Sealed Road
Farm Road / 4WD Track
Moderate Single Track
Average Uphill Gradient: +4.6%
Average Downhill Gradient: -9.1%
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5:00
Slow
3:45
Moderate
2:30
Fast
From the huge new carpark at Goodwin Rd (toilets, picnic tables), run back 800m to the main road, then jog South along Old Te Aroha Rd to the 5.8km mark.
Turn left into Te Tuhi Rd (inconspicuous and easy to run past). Cruise along to the DOC sign at the end of the road then the marked route across the farm which starts to climb steadily until the bush boundary is reached. Enter the forest at a small creek, and then a moderately steep climb up to the flattish plateau that comprises much of the southern Kaimais. Then you're on forest tracks.
Ignore the first right turn to Mangamuka Hut, 1km further on turn left to head North along the North South track. After 5km or so of variable but flattish forest running with the odd creek you get to the Wairere Falls track - turn left here, jog alongside a lovely river, and rejoin the crowds near the waterfall. It's a fantastic downhill from the falls back to the carpark.
Wairere Falls
If you know of any public toilets near the trail start or on the route, please login and then let us know so we can update this section.
15 km
15 minutes
With Permit
No
Moderate.
Very patchy.
Lightweight fleece top, Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), Whistle, First aid kit, Extra food for emergencies, Cellphone, Map
Several nice streams which you could drink from.
The falls are spectacular after heavy rain and the forest provides good shelter, so quite suitable for when the weather isn't good.
Trail Legend
Fastest Known Times (FKTs)
You and Te Tuhi Wairere Loop
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I did this the opposite direction to the description. I love this section if the north/south track & have hiked along it quite a bit.
I did not enjoy the road portion of the trail. There isn’t a grass verge, several blind corners & 2 one way bridges without much room for pedestrians. Not a huge traffic flow thru here but it’s -a wee bit sketchy. The trail portion makes up for that tho. Brilliant trail, with the majority of it really well maintained. It’s reasonably lonely during the week & a good quad thrasher if you start by wairere. (I recorded >700m elevation in that direction).
March 8, 2021
TB
Awesome trail run as long as you don't mind the 1st 5.8 km of road. ther'sand great views over the Waikato from either end of the bush. most of the trails can be run at a good pace.
February 24, 2020
Tackled this on a beautiful day and thoroughly enjoyed it. You're sure to encounter cars on the road running part but the scenery is still pretty. I took a couple of briefly wrong turns on the farmlands when heading up as the course needed me to go through a couple of fences which looked like they were electrified! An honest slog up into the Kaimais and then typical forest running thereafter before getting a chance to check out the falls. All up, a great day. Thanks for sharing John.
January 26, 2020
Just lying down, picking my wounds after completing this trail. I'd like to submit a few observations and corrections. Starting with the road run, which is a nice warm up into what's going to come later, the turn off for Te Tuhi road is at 5.8k from the carpark. The climb from the edge of the first to the top of Kaimais is about 1k with 500m elevation gain, some might call it a steep climb... it took me about 17 mins to complete.The remaining trails up the top are best described as undulated with some up and downs and stream crossings thrown in the mix. The rest as per trail description and the other review. Overall, I had clocked 822m elevation gain and did it in 2:59:54. A great Kaimais trail, if you don't mind a bit of road running.
January 18, 2020
These overlap with this trail to some degree. You may wish to combine them but please note that to qualify for FKTs on these runs you should record a separate activity for each.
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