Te Matua Ngāhere. © itravelNZ® Creative Commons

Te Matua Ngāhere Walk

TAP FOR MORE INFO:

AA Members can save 10% on selected accommodation.

Start looking

Take a 20-minute walk through the beautiful native bush in Waipōua Forest to view the world’s second largest living kauri Te Matua Ngāhere.

About the walk

How long will it take? It's a 730m 20-minute one-way walk suitable for wheelchairs, buggies and people of any age.

A 20-minute walk leads you to Te Matua Ngāhere (Father of the Forest) – the second largest living kauri tree in New Zealand.

You can admire the tree on a viewing platform without damaging its sensitive root systems.

Te Matua Ngāhere Walk is signposted 'Kauri Walks' from SH 12, which runs through the Waipōua Forest. From the car park, you will see a sign for three walks: Te Matua Ngāhere, Four Sisters and Yakas Kauri.

Te Matua Ngāhere is noted as being the oldest out of the two largest living kauri trees and is estimated to exceed 2,000 years.

He was discovered by Nicholas Yakas in 1928 when he and other men were working to build the road that is now known as SH 12.

Measurements:

  • Trunk girth: 16.41m
  • Trunk height: 10.21m
  • Total height: 29.9m
  • Trunk volume: 208.1m³ 

 

Explore more...

More stories like this

Find out more

Get outdoors

Waipōua Forest

There are just glimpses left of what New Zealand would have looked like before the coming of the axe and the crosscut-saw. But you can get a sense of it in the Waipōua Forest. Read the story . . . 

Find out more

Walking

Yakas Walk

Walk on a well-surfaced track to Cathedral Grove and then move on to experience the seventh largest kauri in the lush Waipōua Forest, the 'Yakas' tree. Read the story . . . 

Find out more

Walking

Four Sisters Walk

Walk through kauri and rimu in beautiful native forest to four tall kauri trees growing extremely close together – the famous four sisters.  Read the story . . . 

Find out more

Walking

Tāne Mahuta Walk

Visit the famous Tāne Mahuta, Lord of the Forest – New Zealand's largest known living kauri tree, located in the Waipōua Forest. Read the story . . . 

AA Members save on selected accommodation with
AA Traveller

AA Members
Book now
Non Members
Book now