The Karangahake Rail Tunnel Walk is an easy 3.3km walk that will take you around 1 hour 20 mins to complete.
The tunnel is quite exciting to walk through and has lighting. Most of the walk follows along a sometimes narrow path along the Ohinemuri River with great views. The 1086m Karangahake tunnel was started in 1900 and finished in November 1905. It was built to help transport mining material and gold in and out of Waihi quickly instead of the slow old pack horses. The total cost of building the rail line from Paeroa to Waihi cost 141,762 Pounds.
Quick Facts about this walk
- Location: North Island NZ
- Distance: 3.30 kms
- Time needed: 1 Hour 20 Minutes
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Wheelchair Access: No
- Route: Round Trip
- Elevation: 30m
- Wet Feet: No
- Toilets: Yes
- Dogs: No
- Mobile Coverage: Yes
- Last Updated: November, 2019
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Summary points about this walk
Points of interest along the walk
Point 1: Karangahaka Gorge car park
The car park has toilets, water and picnic tables under shelters. A great place to pull up for a break. Take a torch with you. This is an excellent walk to get a feel of the old days. You will also see tremendous views of the gorge. Take the 15 minute walk to the windows. Cross the first bridge at the bottom of the car park. Turn left and walk past the remains of the old battery and make your way over to the second swing bridge. You can see the second swing bridge from the car park, over to your left.
Point 2: Second Swing Bridge
Turn to the left and walk over to the next swing bridge. Look down in to the Waitawheta River. You should see old steel pipes and railway lines lying in the river. The train used to cross here on its way to the Talisman and Woodstock battery. The next sign you bump into on the right leads up to the windows walk. A walk you must do. Turn to the left, have a good look around before walking on; there is a lot of old machine hidden in the scrub.
Point 3: Into The Tunnel
Keep to the left, follow the track through the bush and along the river where you can see old steel bolts from the old mining days. There is an old mining tunnel just before the bridge. There are no hand rails along the rocky section, so be careful and watch out for young ones.
Point 4: Back to the start
Back to the car park is 15 mins = 800m. Once out of the tunnel and back into daylight, you walk over the main high way and the Ohinemuri River. Again look for the elusive rainbow trout as you cross the Ohinemuri river. Make your way in to the old battery on your left and have a good look around for five minutes then walk up river through the bush and back to the swing bridge you crossed at the beginning of the walk.
