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Rangitoto island

One of Auckland’s iconic landmarks, Rangitoto Island is an amazing day out. Arrive by ferry or private boat and explore, The 360-degree views of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf from the summit are spectacular. There are plenty of other walking tracks if you are keen to explore further and short lava caves that are worth investigating.

Walk Time1.5 – 2 hours return to summit, plus side walks.
1/2 day to full day to circumnavigate the island.
SurfaceFormed track – lots of loose, fine scoria
Difficulty3/5
Buggies/Wheelchairs0/5 – most tracks not suitable. Vehicle Road is ok.
FacilitiesToilets
HighlightsViews, Lava Caves, Bush, Geology, Swimming

Get there by Ferry, your own boat or kayak!

Catch a short ferry ride from the Auckland Downtown or Devonport Ferry Terminals. Click here to access Fullers Ferry information and purchase tickets.

Fullers Ferry takes you to Rangitoto Island
Fullers Ferry takes you to Rangitoto Island (photo from HERA)

What to see and do?

Rangitoto Island is one of Aucklands most famous volcanoes, seen from many parts of the Auckland Isthmus. Its impressive ’round’ shape and obvious volcanic look make it instantly recognisable.

Rangitoto feels like a volcanic island. The black, rough scroria rock is all around and the many shapes of hard set lava are spectacular and at times dangerous looking! These days the bush has grown a lot on Rangitoto Island, making it a more pleasant and quite stunning
walk, even on hot days.

Walking through native bush on  Rangitoto Island
Walking through native bush on Rangitoto Island

Top suggestions to see:

  • Spectacular views of Auckland City and the Hauraki Gulf from the summit
  • Volcanic rock and formations
  • NZ Native bush
  • Lava caves – some which you can explore – they are only about 30-40m in length and marked on the map above
  • Swim – there is a lot of rocky coastline but the water is beautiful in summer!  You can take the trek to Islington Bay for a sandy beach but this is up to 2 hours!  I will add this to the Google Map when I get the chance to GPS the other tracks.
  • View the remaining historic and original waterfront cottages.
  • Swimming – brave the rocky rugged coastline for a dip or swim at sandy MacKenzie Bay and Islington Bay.

You will want to allow at least half day for exploring this amazing and unique island and can easily take a full day to circumnavigate the island and take in the summit.  Some of the bush is so beautiful and the views back towards Auckland give a unique and picturesque perspective. 

Rangitoto Island Elevation to the summit and the Lava Caves (far right point)
Elevation for the around the Island Track, finishing prior to returning to the wharf

Walking Difficulty and Suitability

Rangitoto is a steady walk and requires average fitness and steadiness on your feet.  It is not suitable for wheelchairs or baby buggies, having stairs.  Underfoot, the scoria can be slippery but fine if you stay aware.

Walking to the summit (260m) is uphill all the way.  There are plenty of beautiful views you can take in to have a break if needed.  It can also get hot – so have plenty of water, along with some snacks. 

There is also plenty of options for easy walks if a person uses the Vehicle Track around the perimeter of the island.  Once off the vehicle track, the routes are generally quite steep and unsteady.

Wheelchair and Buggie Suitability

Rangitoto is generally not suitable for wheelchairs and Buggies unless you stay on the Vehicle Track. This is a dirt road and gets reasonably close to the summit but a 20 – 30 min walk up stairs and steep hills will still be required to reach the summit.

West Harbour Loop

Have  a picnic with a view to Auckland City
Have a picnic with a view of  the Harbour & Auckland City

Starting by the West Harbour Marina, the West Harbour Loop walk is fully paved, winds through wonderful bush and provides stunning views over the water back to Auckland city.  There are a range of facilities at Luckens Reserve to make this walk more comfortable.

This is a walk to add to your list!

Continue reading West Harbour Loop

5 Cool walks in auckland

This weather is looking stunning this Auckland Anniversary Weekend and here are 5 walks we suggest you could try that are both spectacular and nice and cool! Walk these tracks in the shade of some magnificent NZ native bush.

Continue reading 5 Cool walks in auckland

Introducing the new editor

Richard Wagener on an Auckland bush track
Richard Wagener on an Auckland walk

What a great city we live in – featuring fascinating volcanic cones, picturesque coastline and stunning bush walks. Alongside this are many other city walks – urban, parks, farmland and various trails. This website aims to provide information and instructions to a wide range of these interesting and varied Auckland walks.

I founded another Auckland walking website a few years ago in honour of my father-in-law, Hugh Willis, who has built many walking tracks on Auckland’s North Shore over the past 40 years. The main purpose of the greataucklandwalks website was to place GPS maps of his tracks online, along with detailed information about the tracks.

As the new editor and developer of the walksinauckland website, my focus will be on the following:

  1. Continuing to build on the legacy of Helen in offering both Aucklanders and visitors to Auckland great information and resources for walking.
  2. Adding more Auckland walks, especially many more amazing, obscure local walks.
  3. Integrating GPS maps to many of the walks so walkers can follow their current position on their mobile devices as they walk. These maps include aspects such as track entrances, facilities and parking. Examples can be found at my existing site https://www.greataucklandwalks.com.
  4. Transferring all the existing walks from my current greataucklandwalks website to walksinauckland.com and gradually make walksinauckland my main website.

This project is very exciting and has many possibilities, especially as technology and ongoing city development provide more opportunities for walkers and explorers. I would be very keen to hear from any of this wonderful online walking community who have ideas on what they would like to see incorporated into the walksinauckland website and we’ll see what might be done.

Thanks for being involved with the website thus far and I trust you will find it equally useful in the future. We appreciate your support.

Richard Wagener
richard@walksinauckland,com

A Tribute to helen

As the new website editor walksinauckland.com, I first want to honour Helen for what she has produced. There have been thousands of hours go into website developments. writing, book and
brochure publishing, and of course lots of walking. On behalf of the ‘Walks In Auckland’ community, a massive thanks – you have made our city a better place!

You will always be remembered as the founder of this resource and community, and we will ensure your story remains told on this website, alongside my other walks hero – Hugh Willis.

This post is about pausing and celebrating a job faithfully and brilliantly done. I will post later about future plans but Helen deserves our immense congratulations and thanks.

Here is the link to the history of Helen’s work with ‘Walks In Auckland’. https://walksinauckland.com/contact/about/

New future for short walks in Auckland

As many of you may realise, I moved to Hawkes Bay just over 3 years ago, to retire with my husband. I have kept the Short Walks in Auckland project going, but because I am remote, I am now finding it impossible to keep routes up-to-date, find new ones and take the project up to the next level.

Happily, I have found the perfect person to take on the mission. Richard Wagener is an enthusiastic walker/runner and already documents walks on a website. I am leaving the project in safe hands. You will still be able to purchase the current walk brochures and books. However, Richard has plans to enrich that offering, to create an exciting new future for Short Walks in Auckland.

This project began in 2011. My friend Grace was the walk creator – with her knowledge of Auckland, she could “see” circular routes, and then it was up to me to map out, photograph, research and document the routes. At first, I relied upon my voice recorder and Google maps but then with the advancement of technology, the smart phone became a best friend and I was able to track our route. The best fun was when we were both pleasantly surprised by what there was to see. Beautiful wetlands, views and bush kept us inspired to explore more.

With over 100 walking routes, it is too difficult to say what our favourite walks are because of the diversity and uniqueness of each locality. I will leave it you to decide what your favourites are.

My two children were at high school age in 2011 when this project started, and unfortunately missed out on the discoveries. A highlight for me was when our daughter was studying Occupational Therapy at AUT, as she had a project that required two walks to be mapped out locally. I was very happy to help.

The last seven years of Short Walks in Auckland have been very rewarding.It was encouraging to get an email from The Women’s Bookshop in Ponsonby asking to meet me and then supplying them with our books. It was exciting to put together a bunch of walks for the University of Auckland Recreation Manager as well as having a common goal with Sports Waitakere.

I was contacted by Frank Goldingham who gave me the opportunity to make regular contributions to the Walking NZ magazine. Every two months one  of our walks was printed in the beautifully presented,  richly coloured monthly magazine, with walks from not only New Zealand, but all around the world. Our walks reached even more people over the years. (See the January 2019 issue for another of our short walks in Auckland.)

mde

Thank you to everyone who has done a Short Walk in Auckland. Your support has been very much appreciated. Now it’s time for fresh eyes and renewed energy. 

Wishing you all lots more walking and exploring.

Helen Wenley (last seen ebiking around Hawkes Bay)