Amazingly tall trees, rushing rivers, a wide variety of habitats and a fascinating past combine to create Whirinaki Forest Park. This was one of New Zealand's most famous conservation battlegrounds, where people actively fought to save a magnificent native podocarp forest.
Today Whirinaki's beauty is protected for everyone to enjoy through a comprehensive network of walks, tracks and huts with a range of opportunities for visitors.
Alert/Important notice
Storm damage from winds of 19 March 2012
The wind storm has bought down many trees in the Whirinaki Forest Park. Rangers have at this stage only visited a few sites but the storm damage that they have seen at those sites can be reasonably expected to be throughout the Forest Park.
Any one planning to walk or ride tracks in the Whirinaki Forest Park including the Moerangi shared use track and the Central Whirinaki Track should be warned to allow extra time to complete the journey and also expect to have to climb over numerous windfalls.
Currently access to River Road carpark is open but confined to one lane.
River Road between River Road car park and Arohaki Lagoon carpark is blocked by windfalls.
Location
The park is about 100 km south east of Rotorua on State Highway 38. It is within a two hour drive of Rotorua, Taupo and Whakatane.