Lake Kaniere walking tracks
Track category
Walking track
Description
Lake Kaniere Walkway
Time: 4 hr one way
Starting (or ending) at the road end just past Sunny Bight picnic area, the walkway is a four hour tramp that passes along the western shores of the lake. Suitable for people of average fitness. Tramping boots are required. There are many picturesque bays, numerous forest streams and lush lakeside forest. A lookout point over the lake is offered part way up Mt Upright/Te Taumata o Uekanaku. The walkway emerges at the southern end of the lake on the Dorothy Falls Road.
Dendrobium cunninghamii orchid on
a tree trunk, Kaniere Walkway
Kaniere Water Race Walkway
Time: 3 hr 30 min - 4 hr one way
This track is suitable for people of average fitness. Starting at the Landing at the northern edge of Lake Kaniere and ending at Kennedy Creek on the Hokitika-Lake Kaniere Road. Shorter sections can be walked - the most popular option being the easier stretch from the landing to Ward road carpark which is one hour. The walkway follows the twists and turns of an historic power station water race as it passes along the edge of the scenic reserve. This track is also suitable for mountain biking.
Getting there
From Hokitika head east 19 km along Lake Kaniere Road, this road meets the lake at 'The Landing'. The road forks at this point, the right road heads to 'Sunny Bight' and the other is Dorothy Falls Road which takes you around the east side of the lake past Hans Bay.
Activities
Mountain biking and cycling
Swimming
Mountain biking and cycling
Both the Kaniere Waterrace Walkway and the Lake Kaniere Walkway can be mountainbiked.
Swimming
There are numerous places to take a dip on the Lake Kaniere Walkway.
Plan and prepare
For track conditions, maps, weather forecasts and more information on the area contact the Hokitika Area Office.
Before you go into the outdoors, tell someone your plans and leave a date to raise the alarm if you haven't returned. To do this, use the New Zealand Outdoors Intentions process on the AdventureSmart website. It is endorsed by New Zealand's search and rescue agencies and provides three simple options to tell someone you trust the details about your trip.
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