Mangawhai Cliff Walk

The Mangawhai Cliff Walk climbs from the surf club at Mangawhai Heads through farmland onto a clifftop with a long view down the coast and out to the Hen and Chickens Islands and, on a clear day, Little Barrier. That much is a straightforward two-hour there-and-back. The loop, which is the version people want, returns along the base of the cliffs on the beach - and that section is passable only around low tide. Get it wrong and the sea reaches the cliff foot with no way up, which is exactly the situation that has required rescues here. The rule is simple and worth following literally: start the loop no later than two hours before low tide, and if in doubt walk the clifftop out and back instead. The cliffs themselves are sandstone with fossil shell beds, and rock falls happen, so lingering directly beneath overhangs is not clever.

What you actually see

• The clifftop view - down the coast to the Hen and Chickens.
• The beach return - along the cliff base, low tide only.
• The fossil beds - shell layers in the sandstone cliffs.
• The farmland climb - the open first section from the surf club.

When to go

October to April, and the loop only within about two hours either side of low tide. Check the tide table before starting - this is the whole planning problem of the walk.

Honest expectations

The beach section is genuinely tide-dependent and people have needed rescuing here. Rock falls occur beneath the cliffs. The clifftop is exposed farmland with no shade and stock may be present.

Nearby

Mangawhai Heads beach and the estuary are at the trailhead; Waipu is north.