The Waitakere Ranges offers rugged shorelines, black sand beaches, tropical forest and beautiful walking trails to be explored.
Heading out to the wild west coast feels like you’re leaving Auckland far behind and entering into a pre-historic world, even though it’s only a 40 minute drive from the city centre.
Whether you’re an Aucklander looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, or visiting from overseas and wanting an accessible taste of NZ wilderness, head out to the Waitakere Ranges and embark on some of their stunning walking tracks. This is one of our top recommendations for spending time in Auckland!
Covering 16,000 hectares of rainforest and coastline, Waitakere Ranges regional park is filled with natural treasures. There are 250km worth of walking trails to be explored, providing plenty of opportunities to see everything the park has to offer, in every direction.
Here’s a few of our favourite walks in the Waitakere Ranges to get you started.
Where to find the Waitakere Ranges
Piha Beach, Lion Rock Track, Piha, Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
The Gap Viewpoint, Tasman Lookout Track, Piha, Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
Kitekite Falls, Knutzen Track, Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
Te Henga Walkway, Bethells Beach, Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
87, Constable Road, Muriwai Beach, Rodney, Auckland, New Zealand
Omanawanui Track, Whatipu, Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
Whatipu Caves Track, Whatipu, Waitakere Ranges, Auckland, New Zealand
Just 40 minutes drive out of Auckland you can find some of the cities best walking trails. Without a car it is quite difficult to find public transport to take you out west of the city, so we’d highly recommend driving to one of these locations for your day hike.
Piha Beach & Tasman Lookout Track
The iconic Piha Beach – a classic Auckland summer hotspot!
A sweeping black sand beach and huge swells make this a popular surfing spot, however it is recommended only competent surfers get in the water here! Just as a heads up, if visiting in summer months, the black sand gets viciously hot – so don’t kick your shoes off too early!
If you’ve had enough of lounging by the sea or need take a stroll after one too many sausages from the BBQ, the Tasman Lookout Track is the one for you! At low tide you can walk all the way along the beach from Lion Rock, heading left, through to The Gap. It’s a short walk of around 20 minutes that takes you along the sand from the northern end of the beach down towards Taitomo Island.
Alternatively, the high tide route takes you up and over the headland offering great views of the surfers and the vast shoreline, far into the distance.
Both these routes lead to the same destination known as The Gap – where waves come crashing through two headlands to form a sheltered swimming hole, a perfect spot to behold the true power of the ocean. In Maori tradition, The Gap was the lair of the famous Taniwha Kaiwhare – a man-eating monster.
Both paths are easy walking and take around 20 minutes each way, we’d recommend to be completed in a loop track, depending on your tide times, and admire the scenery from different viewpoints.
Kitekite Falls
Just a 3 minute drive from the famous Piha Beach, why not finish your day off with a freshwater shower under one of Auckland’s most beautiful waterfalls.
Another easy walk, the Kitekite Falls bush track gradually climbs through the forest (around 30 minutes each way) with several small stream crossings, to arrive at yet another natural wonder of West Auckland.
The track is well maintained and leads to 3 different points; a lookout point to view the waterfall, to the base of the waterfall, and the top of the waterfall.
Many people will simply loop around the lookout path and visit he base of the falls, but miss the top of the waterfall which is really the best part!
At the top of the waterfall it is quiet and there are several little rockpools you can bathe in, and admire the serenity of the native Waitakere Ranges forest from a higher vantage point.
The round trip takes around 1.5 hours with stopping for a swim, and makes for a wonderful day out when combined with a visit to Piha Beach.
Te Henga Walkway
For a more challenging walk tackle the Te Henga Walkway – a clifftop walk leading from Bethells Beach through to Muriwai Beach.
Considered moderate-hard, this hike is 10.3km in length and can only be fully completed with transport at either end of the track, otherwise you would have to turn back before reaching the end to avoid walking in the dark.
It takes around 3.5 hours each way, and given the driving time out of Auckland too, we’d highly recommend buddying up and taking 2 cars, parking one at each end of the track, to avoid walking both ways of the out and back trail.
In our opinion this is one of the best walks in Auckland, and certainly one of the best walks in the Waitakere Ranges.
There is some steep climbing and even on the most beautiful of days it can be quite muddy in places, but the views are well worth the visit.
The scenery along the track is absolutely breaktaking. Apart from the views across the sea and along the cliffs, the track takes you through different landscapes and terrains making for an interesting and diverse day hike.
Omanawanui Track
This is a new favourite Auckland walk for us, because until recently the kauri dieback had closed the track. Fortunately Auckland Council redeveloped the track and as of 2021, open again for all to enjoy.
You can find the carpark for this track at Whatipu Beach. Once you’ve arrived head towards the beach and left from there – do note signage for the start of the walk is difficult to find.
The walk itself is initially very steep requiring moderate fitness. Expect about 1,000 stairs to start your walk, but don’t worry you will be rewarded with fantastic views of Manukau Harbour and the West Coast once you reach the top. The walk is classed as easy/intermediate because of its inital steepness, but aside from the uphill start, it’s mostly board walks, with one very short section that requires a bit of a scramble with ropes and chains.
From this vantage point you’re treated to panoramic views of the beautiful black sand beaches, crashing waves and rugged rock formations – it’s hard to believe you’re still in Auckland!
Similarly to Te Henga, you can go as far as you desire and turn back, as the end of the track is actually a road. We went a fair way along, finding the best views around 1 hour in, and then turning back.
Whatipu Caves
If you’re after something a little different, and a nice easy short walk out in the Waitakere Ranges, then check out the Whatipu caves.
Next to the Omanawanui track, you can find this small half an hour track heading in the opposite direction (towards the water) and leading to several impressive caves. It’s very quiet and eerie, set just back from the beach itself.
There’s actually access to camping in the caves, although I’d say that’s not for the faint hearted once the sun sets!
The cave track probably isn’t worth driving all the way out of Auckland for by itself, but if you’re hiking the neighbouring tracks or looking for a shady break from your Whatipu Beach day then this is a really cool and different short track to explore.
More walking tracks in Auckland?
If you’re keen to do more hikes in Auckland then check out our article ‘Best Walks in Auckland: Our Top 5 Picks’.
Alternatively, have a read of our article ‘Visit Waiheke Island Paradise‘ and make sure to head over to Auckland’s most popular island for some of New Zealand’s best restaurants, wineries, and some beautiful walking trails.