Papaitonga Track

Located in Ōtaki area in the Manawatu/Whanganui region

Take a short, easy walk around a dune lake in Papaitonga Scenic Reserve. It has great spots to enjoy views and look for and listen to birds and is a good option for kids.

An easy 10 min forest track and boardwalk takes you to a picnic area and viewing platform to lookout over Lake Waiwiri.

A l20 min loop track continues on to a second lookout at the southern edge of the lake, which adjoins farmland.

Note this track is in poor condition and is slippery, especially in wet conditions. Take care, especially with children.

The track begins from the car park at the end of Buller Road, approximately 5km southwest of Levin.

Wasps nests may be present during the summer months. 

Papaitonga Scenic Reserve contains rare plants and wildlife, and fragile habitats.

Dogs, fires and other activities that may cause damage, such as hunting, mountain biking and trail bike riding, are not permitted.

Visitors should stay on formed tracks and defined lookout areas at all times. Access to the islands on the lake is not permitted.

Remove your rubbish. Recycle paper, glass, cans and plastic.

Papaitonga Scenic Reserve is an important refuge for birds that depend on wetlands or lowland forests for their survival. It is home to waterfowl and wading birds, as well as forest species on the lake's margins.

Lake Waiwiri and its surrounds make up 135 ha of scenic reserve. Wetland and lush coastal forest surround the lake.

Within the reserve is the only intact sequence from wetland to mature dry terrace forest in Wellington and Horowhenua.

The wetland forest associations of kahikatea/pukatea, tawa and pukatea-tawa-swamp maire are now rare.

The manuka growing on the forested side is habitat for the rare leafless mistletoe Korthalsella salicornioides.

Lake Waiwiri formed in a depression behind sand dunes deposited 35,000 years ago, where water from several sources accumulated. Within the lake are two islands. Papaitonga is the larger of the two islands. Karaka was brought to the island and it continues to grow in thick groves.

The smaller of the two islands, Papawhārangi was constructed by the Muaūpoko people in the late 18th to early 19th century. During this period Muaūpoko also constructed islands on Lake Waipunahau (Horowhenua), which have become part of the shoreline.

Papawhārangi was formed by forcing poles into the lake bottom to define the island's outline, then filling them with pūrei and kākahi shells. Pūrei is a tussock-forming sedge that was taken from the edge of the lake with earth still attached to its roots, then tossed into the water inside the poles. Cast upon the pūrei were kākahi shells, onto which canoeloads of soil were thrown.