The Mangapohue Natural Bridge is spectacular, reached via a short easy walk through a beautiful limestone gorge. Come back at night and the whole area is transformed into a glow worm wonderland.

We’ve been to countless glow worm sites in both New Zealand and Australia and this is easily the most we’ve ever seen outside a cave environment. Standing and looking up at thousands of lights twinkling above you is breathtaking and as it’s a bit further from Waitomo than the Ruakuri bush walk you’ll likely get it all to yourself!

Even if you don’t go back at night, it’s an absolute must do when visiting Waitomo. Here’s everything you need to know about the Mangapohue Natural Bridge.

Mangapohue Natural Bridge

The stats

Distance: 800m return (or 1.2km loop)
Elevation: 60m
Difficulty: Very easy

The walk to Mangapohue Natural Bridge is a very picturesque leisurely stroll and is even pushchair friendly up until the staircase beside the arch - which is where you’ll get the best view.

From the car park, the walk heads into the gorge, following the river. It’s a short stroll before you come to a fun little swing bridge over the water. On the other side, the path follows the huge cliff wall which gives it a dramatic feel.

You’ll continue following the gorge for a few minutes until you see the giant archway: the natural bridge.

If you’re lucky and you get the place to yourself all you can hear is water droplets on the limestone and it’s incredibly atmospheric. This is the best view of the arch, so if you’re not able to go up the staircases you won’t have missed out.

Otherwise, you can then climb up the stairs which offer a view of the gorge from above.

My advice at this point would be to retrace your steps the way you came because it’s more than beautiful enough to want to see it twice!

We continued the trail across the farmland to form a loop. There’s nothing wrong with the loop but it’s nowhere near as special as the gorge. It starts in open farmland with plenty of limestone rocks which you might spot some 25 million year old fossils in, but after that you are just walking through gorse.

It’s easy enough but can get pretty muddy if you’re visiting after heavy rain.

The Mangapohue Natural Bridge by night - glow worm central!

We visited the arch at the end of winter when temperatures were still pretty cold - not the best conditions for glow worms and there tends to be fewer numbers during this time.

Let me tell you that if what we saw is less than normal then there will be virtually no space along the cliff walls that isn’t lit with them during the warmer months!

We saw thousands of glow worms in one of the best displays we’ve ever seen. It really is a magical experience, and the photos don’t do it justice.

The glow worms begin just after the second bridge and get denser and denser the further you go. They are on both sides of the gorge right the way along to the arch itself.

They were even on the ceiling of the arch allowing you to stand underneath a blue starry night sky. Many were so bright that you could see the little threads with the naked eye despite being in total darkness, which is not something we’ve seen very often.

Although you will see hundreds and hundreds of them immediately, the trick is to let your eyes fully adjust. To do this you need to turn off all artificial light and wait for at least five minutes, I guarantee you will see ten times more!

The great thing about the walkway is that as it’s in such great condition and flat you only need minimal light to walk along it. We just used the homescreen of our phones on the way and didn’t need any light on the way back - although we had spent an hour adjusting to the darkness at that point.

However long you are able to spend here you’re going to have a magical experience.

If you’re looking for other amazing things to do in the area, we have you covered in our detailed Waitomo guide. If you’d like more great places to see glow worms in New Zealand, we have this detailed guide.

Tips for the best glow worm experience

Make sure you leave it at least an hour after sunset. If you’ve been exploring the area by day, rather than making a special evening trip, it can be tempting to head into the bush just after sunset, but you really need full darkness to see the majority of the glow worms. You’ll see some earlier but only a fraction of what’s really there. The darker the better so ideal conditions would be low moonlight too, but it’s hard to get things that perfect when you’re only in the area for a limited amount of time.
As mentioned, you need to turn all light off to enjoy the glow worms, not just for your eyes to adjust but also because you shouldn’t shine light on glow worms. It can stop them feeding and also encourage them to stop glowing which in turn ruins the experience for you.
For photography bring a tripod and plan on taking long exposures. You don’t need any light to photograph them.

Other attractions near the Mangapohue Natural Bridge

There are plenty of activities in the surrounding area, with the most spectacular being Marokopa Falls, a six minute drive away. The short 800m return walk is easy on a good gravel path. The maintained trail ends at the lookout but you can take the dirt path down to the base of the falls, which is roughly another 100m each way. Watch out for mud here if there’s been recent rain!

In-between Marokopa Falls and Mangapohue Natural Bridge you’ll find Piripiri Cave. It’s only 300m return to the cave on an easy trail, albeit it with a few staircases to climb.

The cave itself is small and not overly beautiful but it’s still fun to check out on your own and does have a few formations.

Getting to Mangapohue Natural Bridge

Mangapohue Natural Bridge is 25km and roughly a 30 minute drive from Waitomo Caves. The road is sealed the whole way but it’s very windy. There aren’t many facilities around the area but there is a long drop toilet.

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