The Mahinepua walk is one of the best easy coastal walks in Northland. The scenery is spectacular from the first step to the last, with incredible golden and black sand beaches, sheltered coves and distant islands. Although you could complete the track in around an hour and a half, you could easily spend a whole afternoon, stopping for a dip and a picnic along the way.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Mahinepua Track.
The Mahinepua Walk
The stats
Distance: 7km
Elevation: 200m
Difficulty: Easy
The Mahinepua Track is an easy walk but it’s not flat. There are a series of ups and downs but no long climbs. The path is well maintained with staircases taking you up and down the majority of hills. We took just over 1.5 hours to do the whole trail at a leisurely pace.
It can get muddy in patches after heavy rain but nothing overly dramatic, the mud was not particularly slippery and we hiked after prolonged monsoon like rains!
Starting the trail at Mahinepua Beach
The walk begins at the pretty Mahinepua Beach and heads over the stile and up the gravel road.
The 350m walk along the road is the only section of the walk which is a little uninspiring, but to be fair even this stretch has a great view back over the beach so it’s not all bad!
The road heads uphill and you’ll soon see the proper walking track on the right which leads onto a grassy path.
This section along the grass and up the first little hill is the muddiest if you are going to experience any mud along the track.
It wasn’t awful, and even going uphill on the mud (and back down again later) was ok, a very different experience to the nearby Dukes Nose Track!
As you begin traversing the narrow path along the hill tops the views just keep on coming, but the best are definitely yet to come.
Along the headlands
After a short uphill climb on switchbacks you’ll then begin descending down towards a small but gorgeous beach.
It’s a lovely sheltered cove and a great place to stop and relax or go for a swim. Watch out for what lurks beneath though, as we saw a washed up pufferfish here - well we think that’s what it was, but correct us in the comments if we’re wrong!
After the beach you’ll begin climbing up and over several headlands, all on well maintained staircases. The views are simply jaw-dropping and the rugged hills also add to the beauty of the scene.
It can get pretty windy up here so you might want to carry an extra layer with you even on a warm day.
The two climbs are both 150m long and though quite steep are over quickly. You’ll then get to the top and see a fantastic view of a black sand beach to your right.
We didn’t even know there were black sand beaches in this area and it was absolutely beautiful.
The loop track to the trig
Just 100m beyond the view of the black sand beach you’ll reach the start of the loop track. We headed left along the longer stretch first.
The views from here are incredible, looking down over bays, out to islands and also back over the green headlands.
The path sticks closely to the edge all the way along and there’s a handily placed bench seat to sit and take it all in.
The track heads briefly downhill before a slight climb up to the trig, but the vast majority of the uphill walking is done by the time you reach the loop track.
As you head up to the trig the track is a slight bit rougher, with a little erosion, but nothing too difficult by any means. The walk from the start of the track to the trig via the longer side of the loop is 2.6km.
The views from the top are great as expected, but for me not any more so than the rest of the track as it was all totally stunning.
There’s a signpost at the trig telling you not to walk any further but you can walk just a few metres between the trees before it gets eroded to get a great view out to several islands.
The walk beyond this looked very dodgy and we don’t recommend it, but just beside the tree line felt fine and did offer yet more exceptional views, this time out to Motuekaiti and Motueka Islands.
Heading back
As you head back down from the trig you can head left to check out the other side of the short loop track.
You’ll get views over to islands and headlands that you won’t have seen yet, although there is more bush between you and the views so they aren’t quite as good as on the other side of the track - they are still absolutely worth seeing though!
Roughly 500m after leaving the trig you’ll reach the end of the loop and then the rest of the track back is along the path you have already walked.
It’s more downhill than up, but there are still a few climbs to go.
We were walking this part of the track towards sunset and some of the bays had gone into shadow so it’s worth doing it earlier in the day if you want to see everything in full sun.
All in all, we loved this walk, it had been recommended to us by lots of locals and we were so glad we added on an extra day to our Northland trip to do it.
It really was worth it and is a great option for when you aren’t looking for something too strenuous, but don’t want to compromise on epic views.
Getting to the Mahinepua Peninsula Track
The Mahinepua Peninsula Track begins at Mahinepua Beach where there is a number of free car parking spaces.
The track is 16km and roughly a 20 minute drive from Whangaroa, and 42km and 40 minutes from Kerikeri. It’s almost exactly the same distance from Mangonui as Kerikeri.
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