Marios Gavalas
Author And Researcher
I'm Marios, delivering the best of Aotearoa's nature walks to your device.
I've personally walked hundreds of New Zealand's tracks and spent months in libraries uncovering interesting information on New Zealand/Aotearoa. And you'll find a slice of that research on this page - enjoy!
2 km return | 45 minutes return
The upper falls are a series of small cascades, framed with ferns and dense vegetation. There is a choice of swimming holes at the upper falls and a larger hole at the lower falls.
Views of Tauranga and Mount Maunganui from near the carpark look through a gap at the mouth of the valley.
From Welcome Bay, follow Welcome Bay Road. Kaiate Falls are signposted along Waitao Road after 6.5km. Continue 5km and turn left into Upper Papamoa Road. Te Rerekawau Scenic Reserve is signposted on the left after 1km.
From Te Puke, follow Te Puke Quarry Road and Upper Papamoa Road for 9.3km.
The track starts from the parking area, which has toilets.
The track is mostly metalled, even and aided with steps on steeper sections.
The main track loops around the falls and interconnects with several link tracks between opposite sides of the loop.
From the carpark, bear left, ignoring the first track coming in on the left, which leads to Upper Papamoa Road. Continue bearing left, passing two junctions with tracks to opposite sides of the loop, to the footbridge at the base of the upper falls (7minutes). A track connects to the return side of the loop.
Be very careful of the slippery rocks.
The descent to the lower falls is quite steep and exits at the base of the falls. The rocks here can be extremely slippery (5minutes).
It takes approximately 20 minutes to climb to the carpark, passing the three link tracks.
The 10-metre-high lower falls have formed a substantial plunge pool and eaten back the ignimbrite cliffs to form a shaded basin.
Feature | Value | Info |
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Organisation |
Western Bay of Plenty District CouncilCouncil organisation |
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Location |
North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Tauranga |
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Categories |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Coordinates |