Image: DOC
Mahoe, Ball's Clearing Scenic Reserve.
Balls Clearing Walks

Located in Puketitiri area in the Hawke’s Bay region

These short walks are the best place in Hawke’s Bay to experience a lowland podocarp forest.

Balls Clearing Scenic Reserve is located 5 km from Puketitiri along the Pakaututu Road.

This outstanding example of dense virgin podocarp forest is best seen from the network of walking tracks, which vary in time from 10 to 40 minutes. There is a 800 metre stretch of track suitable for people using wheelchairs.

These are good walks for families and the reserve entrance has picnic shelters, a large grassed area, toilets and water.

Photography, birdwatching and natural history studies are appropriate activities here. It's also a good place to view the New Zealand long-tailed bat.

Balls Clearing Scenic Reserve is located 5 km from Puketitiri, along Pakaututu Road. It is around one hour’s drive from Napier and is near Kaweka Forest Park.

No dogs, fires or camping allowed in the reserves.

Vegetation

The forest escaped the widespread forest milling which was prominent in the area in the 1930’s as well as the extensive fires in the 1940’s. The dense stands of straight boled trees are dominated by rimu, matai, miro, and kahikatea. There is also a fringe of red beech around the clearing. An understorey of kohuhu, putaputaweta, broadleaf, mature fuchsia and five finger is complemented by a variety of ground ferns.

One of the most striking plants in New Zealand’s forests is the mistletoe. Although its colourful presence has been substantially reduced by possum browsing over a long period, there is evidence in this area of vigorous regrowth in response to a long term possum control programme.

Mistletoe grows on the branches of host trees and with its specialised roots, often in the form of pad like attachments, it is able to penetrate the host trees to gain water and nutrients. It is therefore known as semi-parasitic. The most common species found in these reserves is Tupeia antarctica.

It is prominent in Balls Clearing Scenic Reserve where it mainly grows on the five finger (whauwhaupaka), but has a wide host range in other areas including introduced plants.

Wildlife

Native birds are numerous, though more commonly heard rather than seen, particularly in early mornings and late evenings. They include the kereru (wood pigeon), tui and korimako (bellbird). There are also significant colonies of the not so common long tailed bat.

The only native land mammals in New Zealand are bats. The long tailed bat finds a home in hollow trees in the mature forests in this area. Little is known about them because their small size and nocturnal habits make them difficult to study.

Research at Ball’s Clearing Scenic Reserve reveals that rats are possibly the main culprit for the bats declining population. Bats have a soft noiseless flight and emit ultrasonic waves (echolocation) to determine their distance from prey and solid objects. Their food is largely moths and flying insects and they rest by suspending, head downwards, from the claws of their hind legs.