Ruapani Circuit Track
Track category
Tramping track
Time:
6 hr
Description
It will take you six hours of moderate to hard walking to complete the Ruapani Circuit. This description is in an anti-clockwise direction from the Waikareiti day shelter.
About half an hour beyond the Waikareiti day shelter, a left fork takes you onto the Ruapani Circuit Track, which passes 7 wetlands to exit onto the Waikareiti Track again near the main road.
Getting there
The Ruapini circuit can be done in either direction. In an anti-clockwise direction the track is accessed from the Waikareiti Track a half hour beyond the Waikareiti day shelter. Clockwise the track is accessed from the Waikareiti Track near the main road just north of the Aniwaniwa Visitor Centre.
About the area
Crown fern, Ruapani Track
The forest is consistently beautiful on this track, especially the profusion of neinei (pineapple scrub, Dracopyhllum latifolium). Interesting plants grow around some of the lakelets, e.g. the insectivorous sundew, and New Zealand's tallest species of tree, the kahikatea.
Distant views are rare but on the descent from Lake Ruapani, the final body of water, there is an enticing glimpse of Lake Waikaremoana, Panekire Bluff and Hawke's Bay in the distance.
Plan and prepare
Take warm clothing, food, drink and a raincoat.
back to top