Kaitoke Regional Park

Kaitoke protects a stretch of mature podocarp and beech forest where the Hutt and Pakuratahi Rivers meet, and its main local use is swimming - the Hutt River pools here are clear, cold and deep enough to jump into, with a swingbridge across the gorge. Several short walks run through the forest, from twenty minutes to a few hours, and there is a campsite. The film association is what brings many visitors: the Rivendell set was built in a clearing beside the Hutt River in 1999 and removed completely afterwards, as the filming permit required. What is there now is an archway marker, some interpretation panels and a wooden frame indicating where a set piece stood. People arriving expecting to see elven architecture leave disappointed; people arriving for a river and a forest walk generally do not.

History

Before Europeans came, Māori had several routes between the Wairarapa and Wellington through Kaitoke, and Whakataka Pā is believed to have stood at Te Mārua before 1820; a European road opened in 1856. Settlers cleared much of the forest for timber and farmland, but local authorities bought surviving untouched forest in 1939 to protect the water supply, and more land on 20 November 1951 to form the Hutt Water Collection Area. After the war the river became a place for picnics and swimming; the regional planning authority picked it out as a possible park in 1976, and it opened in 1983. Its forest stood in for Rivendell in the exterior shots of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), and a wheelchair-accessible suspension bridge over the Hutt River opened in August 2021 (Wikipedia, Kaitoke Regional Park).

What's there

• The swimming holes - clear, cold Hutt River pools with a swingbridge.
• The forest - mature podocarp and beech, with short loop walks.
• The Rivendell site - a clearing, an archway marker and panels.
• The river confluence - Hutt and Pakuratahi meeting in the gorge.

When to go

December to March for swimming - the water stays cold. Walks work year-round; tracks are muddy in winter. Weekends in summer are busy with Wellington families.

Good to know

Nothing of the Rivendell set remains - it was fully removed by agreement. The river is cold and the current after rain is strong. Facilities are basic; the campsite books out in summer.

Nearby

Upper Hutt is south; the Rimutaka Rail Trail starts nearby.

Key facts