Looking up at the craggy peaks of Mount Manaia is incredibly atmospheric. It’s the type of peak that you take one look at and instantly want to climb.
It might look steep and dramatic, but it’s only a short hike up to the summit where you’ll get some of the best views in the area. They are beautiful at any time of day but particularly at sunset. The walk to the top is a fairly relentless climb, but the track is in excellent condition allowing you to make quick work of it, both up and down which is ideal for sunset.
You’ll be sheltered from the elements by the forest canopy until right at the very top and the forest itself is gorgeous with a smattering of ancient kauri trees as well as many tropical nikau palms.
Here’s everything you need to know about climbing Mount Manaia, one of the best things to do in Whangarei.
The Mount Manaia Walk
The stats
Distance: 4.4km return
Elevation: 360m
Difficulty: Moderate
The Mount Manaia track is technically easy in the sense it’s a well formed path the entire way and doesn’t get particularly muddy or slippery, even after heavy rain (which is when we hiked it).
If you can walk uphill for somewhere between 35 minutes and an hour (depending on your speed), you’ll be fine on this track. We took 45 minutes to get up and were walking pretty slowly!
Starting the trail: into the forest
From the car park the walk zig zags gently up the gravel pathway to a viewpoint over Whangarei Heads. You’ll then pass through the kauri cleaning station and the official Mount Manaia Track begins.
The trail immediately takes you into the forest which is fantastic both for wet and sunny days as it provides such great cover.
We started the walk with completely clear skies, but minutes later there was a total whiteout and heavy rain, which we luckily felt very little of.
The forest itself is a beauty, incredibly lush as you’d expect, with so many different trees and plants when you stop to take it all in.
I particularly loved the huge tree trunks covered in epiphytes and the myriad of twisted hanging vines.
The climb
The narrow gravel path begins winding up through the forest and the combination of gravel, boardwalk and well maintained wooden steps make the climb really easy.
We’d been doing a lot of walks prior to this one which were covered in mud but the Mount Manaia Track held up brilliantly.
There’s not much in the way of views for the majority of the climb as the forest is dense, but when you do get a peek at the water it’s all the more special.
The trail itself is steep at points, with several staircases back to back, but then also has more gradual track which feels like a bit of a break between the steps.
There are some huge mature kauri trees along the way, not marked but completely natural and always a joy to see.
At the 2km mark you can feel you are almost there, you’ve gained a lot of height and on a windy day you will start to really feel it.
You’ll pass cliff walls, and a chockstone before reaching a brief flat section of track with a wonderful open view to the left.
Reaching the summit
After 100m of flat track you’ll see the final staircase up to the summit. There’s a sign saying that it’s only suitable for five people and you’ll see why at the top, there’s not a lot of room up there!
After two more short staircases you’ll be standing on a flat rock with glorious views out to Whangarei Harbour.
This area is extremely exposed and has no safety barrier. On our visit the wind was insane and we had to keep heading back into the forest to get a break from it.
It sadly did cut our sunset session a little short as it just wasn’t possible to sit and relax, but on a calm day sitting here and watching the sun set behind the headland would be magical.
Incidentally, if you do come up to watch the sunset, it’s an easy track to get down in the dark and you have the added bonus of being able to keep an eye out for the resident kiwis that live in the forest.
To the left of the rocky platform there is an interesting looking rock which you are asked not to try and climb as this is a sacred site for the local Iwi.
In years gone by local Maori used to place the remains of their ancestors on these rocks and it’s a mark of respect not to climb them or go beyond the main rock that you step onto from the staircase.
All in all, the Mount Manaia Track is a great walk that can be completed in under two hours yet still offers terrific views - just pick a calm day if you can!
Getting to the Mount Manaia Track
The track for climbing Mount Manaia is reached from the Mount Manaia Club’s lower car park at Whangarei Heads, roughly a 30km, 30 minute drive from Whangarei. The official trail starts 120m beyond the car park.
Protecting the kauri trees
It’s really important to use the cleaning station and not leave the path in any forests that contain kauri trees due to kauri dieback disease (spread through soil transfer).
There is an obvious side trail off the main Mount Manaia Track which we would normally would have explored and mentioned here if it weren’t for kauri dieback. We saw some take it, and they probably completely forgot that you shouldn’t go off track, which is a real shame for these ancient trees.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support!
