Access

Access to Tawharanui Regional Park is signposted past Matakana along Takatu Road.

There are toilets at Anchor Bay and near the information buildings. Picnic tables and parking are at the Lagoon Carpark on the entrance road and at Anchor Bay at the roadend.

The start of the track is signposted from Anchor Bay Carpark.

Track

Take care familiarising yourself with the track layout on the information panels, as it can be complicated to decipher.

Follow the metalled coast road for 10 minutes and cross the footbridge. The start of the North Coast Track is signposted. This undulates over farmland for 45 minutes past a trig to the junction with the Tokatu Point Track.

You can spend 1½ hours exploring the headland via Tokatu Loop Track or just 30 minutes walking to the magnificent lookout at Tokatu Point.

An alternative return route via the Fisherman’s Track is marked with red banded posts and cuts through forest. The track is partially metalled.

You can also return along the Ecology Trail, marked with yellow banded posts, which provides the best walking surface.

All return routes lead to Anchor Bay and take approximately 1¼ hours.

Geology

There are magnificent views of the outer Hauraki Gulf islands, which sit like sombre hulks on the horizon. The Hen and Chickens Islands resemble a slumbering crocodile.

Flora

Rare prostrate manuka at Tokatu Point forms low clumps. It usually grows as a tree, but in these harsh windy conditions remains low to the ground like a shrub.