Blue Springs, Waihou River Walk

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The Blue Springs walk is an easy 4.7km (one way) walk along the Waihou River to the Blue Springs that will take you around 3 hours there and back. The water is so pure it’s bottled and sold. Enjoy seeing trout swimming in the crystal clear water as you follow the track alongside the river to the Blue Springs. If you want a very short walk then park the car in the car park down Leslie Road.

Quick Facts

- - - Location: North Island NZ
    - Distance: 4.70 kms
    - Time needed: 3 Hours
    - Difficulty: Very Easy
    - Wheelchair Access: No
    - Route: Double back
    - Elevation: 144m
    - Wet Feet: No
    - Toilets: Yes
    - Dogs: No
    - Mobile Coverage: No
    - Last Updated: November, 2019

Track Highlights

Crystal clear, blue spring water. You walk along the Waihou river all the way to the blue springs. It is also an enjoyable walk through the countryside. Keep an eye out for rainbow trout.

Track Quality

A well looked after track, very easy walk. Sorry no swimming at the Blue Spring.

Hazards

The Blue Spring is very fragile, and the clarity and purity of its waters sustain not only the Putāruru community but many others in New Zealand and the world.

Transport

Water

No tap water, plenty of water in the Waihou River

Driving Instructions

The Waihou River is on the back road to Rotorua. Linking State Highways 1 and 5 in the South Waikato District is Whites Road. Te Waihou Blue Springs Walkway is situated off Whites Road. There is limited car-parking. There is no shuttle service from Putāruru township or i-SITE.

Shops or Restaurants nearby

5.2 Km drive to Putaruru

Area & Track History

The Blue Springs is only 5km North of Putaruru. Work started on the Te Waihou walkway in 1999. Over 400 students from the local schools in and around Putaruru were involved in planting trees on the Te Waihou walkway. The water feeding the Blue Springs is from the Mamaku plateau. It is only a short 13km stroll to the Mamaku plateau but it takes the water 50 to 100 years to reach the Blue Spring. The 11 Degrees Celsius water flows at a rate of 9,240 gallons per minute. And as we all know, pure water is always blue.

Best Things To Do near this walk

Map location of Blue Springs, Waihou River Walk

Map of walk

Points of interest along the walk

In the map above, if you zoom in on the walk, you’ll see all the following track points and their location. Each point has photos along with a description about each one.

Point 1: The Start of the Blue Springs, Waihou River Walk

The track is so easy to find from the car park. Follow the gravel track up to the first bridge. 15 minutes into the walk you will pass the Bio toilet, yes it is the only one on the walk. The track is very easy to follow. At the bridge you can take the high road or the low road. We crossed over the bridge on the way up to the Blue Springs and came back on the low road.

Point 2: Blue Springs, Finish

The last section of the walk is through a gorge, so they say, I would call it a gully. This gully was a bit on the rough side when we did this walk. I hope the track has been worked on since then. You will get the chance to look down in to the Waihou River and see trout darting in and out of the weed. At the Blue Spring there is a pump shed, this is where spring water is pumped into Putaruru town where the spring water is bottled and sold to a number of bottled water companies in NZ. From the pump shed you can walk up the hill and onto the track leading to Leslie Road, this will save you 20 minutes, so long as some one picks you up at the road end.

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