Hunua Falls

The Wairoa River drops about thirty metres over an old basalt lava plug into a deep round pool ringed by bush, and because the car park is five minutes away the falls are one of the easiest big waterfalls to reach anywhere near Auckland. The pool looks made for swimming, but the water is deep and cold, and there is a circulating current at the base of the fall that holds things under. Council signs advise against swimming and they mean it. Tracks lead up to a lookout above the falls and on into the Hunua Ranges, which are the larger attraction - a big block of regenerating forest with the reservoirs that supply most of Auckland's drinking water, and one of the remaining breeding grounds of the kokako. As in the Waitakeres, kauri dieback closures affect some tracks; check before relying on a route.

The landscape

• The thirty-metre fall - over an old lava plug into the pool.
• The lookout - the track up to the top of the falls.
• The Hunua bush - regenerating forest and the water reservoirs.
• Kokako - one of their remaining breeding grounds, calling in the ranges.

When to go

October to April. After heavy rain the falls are dramatic and the tracks are mud. Weekends bring picnic crowds to the car park area.

Things to know

Do not swim in the plunge pool - the current at the base is dangerous, and the warning is not decorative. Some tracks are closed for kauri dieback. No shops; the nearest are in Clevedon or Papakura.

Nearby

Clevedon village and the Firth of Thames coast are east; Auckland is an hour north.

Key facts