Last updated November 2026
These 13 walks in and around Rotorua each take about an hour or less from start to finish, counting the walk back. They suit a spare hour in the city, young legs, or a break on a drive between the lakes.
They take in a geothermal park in the city centre, redwood forest on the edge of the city, a bush loop on Mount Ngongotahā, waterfalls at Ōkere Falls, Lake Ōkataina and Tarawera Falls, twin crater lakes, a steaming crater on Maunga Kākaramea and the springs at Hamurana.
Nine are Department of Conservation (DOC) tracks, two are in the Redwoods, one is a council park and one is a paid nature reserve.
How We Chose These Walks
Every time and length here comes from the walk’s manager: DOC’s track pages, the Redwoods (Whakarewarewa Forest) visitor centre’s walk pages and forest map, Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve’s own site, and, for Kuirau Park, Rotorua Lakes Council’s visitor guide, RotoruaNZ. The rule is the whole walk, a loop or there and back, in about an hour or less.
Where the manager gives a time one way, we give it each way, and the two legs together still come to an hour or less. Three walks sit right on the hour. Conditions change, so check the manager’s page before you go.
Rotorua City
Kuirau Park
Rotorua Lakes Council’s visitor guide, RotoruaNZ, gives 10 to 20 minutes for a wander on the easy loop tracks of this free geothermal park, depending on the route you take. The council says numerous walkways wind through it, past mud pools and boiling lakes, and asks you to stick to the tracks because the features can be unpredictable.
The guide adds a crater lake, hot springs and a free thermal foot bath. The park is on the corner of Ranolf Street and Lake Road, within walking distance of the city centre, with free parking and public toilets.
The council lists Kuirau Park as a dog exercise area where dogs must be on a leash, and bans dogs from children’s playgrounds.
Whakarewarewa Forest (The Redwoods)
Redwood Memorial Grove Track
The Redwoods visitor centre gives this circuit as 2.0 km and 30 minutes. It meanders through Californian redwoods planted in 1901 and now about 67 metres tall, dedicated to the men of the New Zealand Forest Service who died in the two World Wars, and crosses the old thermal pond on a boardwalk.
Start at the Redwoods i-SITE and Visitor Centre on Tītokorangi Drive (Long Mile Road), where the forest map shows toilets, and follow the arrows in the direction they point. The map rates it suitable for prams and wheelchairs in dry conditions. Dogs must be on a lead.
Waitawa Walk
For a full hour among the trees, the Waitawa Walk is a 3.4 km circuit that the visitor centre times at one hour. It begins along the Redwood Memorial Grove Track, then carries on into a stand of Douglas fir, with silver ferns and giant mamaku tree ferns, before joining a nature trail where many trees and plants are labelled. It starts from the same i-SITE car park on Tītokorangi Drive.
Like its shorter neighbour, the forest map rates it suitable for prams and wheelchairs in dry conditions. The managers encourage using the forest in daylight hours only. Keep dogs on a lead.
Lake Tikitapu
Tikitapu Nature Walk
DOC times this loop at 30 minutes and calls it a well-formed track over undulating terrain, “steep in places but a relatively short loop”. It passes through native bush full of birdsong, with plant labels and story panels along the way, which makes it a good one for children.
Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) is 9 km south-east of Rotorua on Tarawera Road; as the lake comes into view, park on the large grassed area on your left and follow the signs across it to the start. DOC gives no length. No dogs are allowed anywhere in the scenic reserve.
North and West of the City
Hamurana Springs Main Trail
Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve calls its quickest trail “a 30 minute round trip”, though it suggests allowing at least an hour to see the wildlife and all the cultural sites of Ngāti Rangiwewehi.
The trails lead to the deepest natural freshwater spring in the North Island. Entry is paid: $18 for adults, $8 for children 5 to 15, free under 5.
Summer hours are 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 6pm at weekends; winter hours are 9am to 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday, so it’s closed on Mondays in winter. Last entry is an hour before closing, and it may close in high winds. The entrance is at 773 Hamurana Road. No dogs except certified service dogs.
Mount Ngongotahā Nature Loop
DOC’s Nature Loop is a 2.5 km loop of 1 hour, right on this list’s limit. It begins and ends at Violet Bonnington Reserve, at the Rotorua end of Paradise Valley Road, 200 metres from the Clayton/Paradise Valley Road intersection; the loop leaves the Jubilee Track 300 metres in. It climbs through native bush with interpretation panels on the mountain’s natural and cultural features, past a 40-metre rātā, to a lookout across Rotorua and Mount Tarawera.
Don’t carry on up the Jubilee Track to the summit if you’re keeping to an hour: DOC gives that 1 hour 30 minutes one way. No dogs and no bikes.
King Hill Reserve Walking Track
In Mamaku, this flat, well-defined track runs 300 metres one way through tawa and rimu, connected to a historic mining site where old pipes are still visible. DOC allows 20 minutes without saying whether that’s each way, so allow up to about 40 minutes there and back.
From Mamaku Street, enter from either Karamu Street or Old State Mill Road; both entrances are signposted, and you park on the roadside. DOC warns the track is known to be muddy after heavy rain. There are no picnic tables or toilets at the reserve. No dogs and no bikes.
Lakes Rotoiti, Ōkataina and Rotomā
Ōkere Falls Track
DOC gives 1.2 km for this track and 30 minutes one way, so allow about 30 minutes each way, an hour there and back. The well-formed bushwalk has information panels and passes Tutea Falls, which DOC calls the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world.
DOC says the platform that looks out over Tutea Falls is closed, but you can still see the falls from sections of the track leading down to the cave. Start from the main car park on Trout Pool Road off SH33, 21 km from Rotorua, with toilets and a picnic area. Strong currents: keep to the track. No dogs.
Te Auheke Track (Cascades Track)
DOC’s Te Auheke Track is a 1.5 km loop of 40 minutes in Lake Ōkataina Scenic Reserve. It passes a sheer cliff face covered in moss and ferns, where thousands of glow worms show at night, and the Cascade Falls, around 10 metres high, which tumble over rock outcrops; Te Auheke means “tumbling water”.
Turn onto Lake Ōkataina Road from SH30 at Ruato, 22 km from Rotorua, and start at the back of the field behind the Outdoor Education Centre. DOC names no toilets for the track. No dogs.
Ngahopua Track (Twin Lakes Track)
A 2 km loop of 50 minutes, this DOC track climbs 100 metres above the twin volcanic crater lakes of Rotongata and Rotoatua, which formed about 3,500 years ago and draw birds including scaup and dabchick.
Where it skirts the cliff above the lakes there are high drop-offs, so stay behind the barriers, keep to the track and keep children close. It starts on Lake Ōkataina Road, directly opposite the side road to the Outdoor Education Centre. It links to the Anaha Track if you want to walk longer. No dogs.
Rotoma Bridle Track
This old bridle track runs beside SH30 from Manawahe Road to Whangaroa Bay on Lake Rotomā, about 40 km north-east of Rotorua.
DOC gives 20 minutes one way, so it’s about 20 minutes each way, 40 minutes there and back, and grades it an easy to intermediate walking track. It passes through a magnificent stand of native bush, with towering rimu and tawa over hīnau, pukatea, kohekohe and ferns.
DOC says the best parking is on Manawahe Road by the junction with SH30. DOC gives no length. No dogs.
South and East, Further Afield
Maunga Kākaramea Crater Lake Walk
DOC gives this Grade 2 walk as 1 km return and 30 minutes return, to a lookout over a crater lake with brown, orange and red steaming cliffs behind. The surface is mainly rock and clay, with tree roots, and mountain bikers share the track except on the 30-metre side track to the lookout.
The car park is beside SH5, 26 km south-east of Rotorua, just past the SH38 turn-off on the left. This is a fragile geothermal landscape that is significant to Ngāti Tahu/Ngāti Whaoa, so stay on the track and behind barriers and supervise children. The summit hike is far longer: allow 3 hours return. No dogs.
Tarawera Falls Track
DOC’s track is 700 metres return and 20 minutes one way, so about 20 minutes each way, following the Tarawera River upstream from the Waterfall Road car park and over a bridge to a viewing area with a seat, where water surges from fissures in a high cliff.
Access is from Kawerau, via private forestry roads, with a permit from the Kawerau i-SITE, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only. The forest gate is closed during the hours of darkness, the road may close in summer when fire risk is high, and overnight parking isn’t permitted. Toilet at the car park. No dogs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How did you decide what counts as a short walk?
The whole walk, a loop or there and back, has to take about an hour or less on the manager’s own time. A walk timed one way counts double.
Which short walks are right on the hour?
The Mount Ngongotahā Nature Loop (1 hour), the Waitawa Walk (1 hour) and the Ōkere Falls Track (30 minutes each way). Allow a little extra if you walk slowly or stop often.
Which walks are best for children?
DOC suggests the Tikitapu Nature Walk for children, with its plant labels and story panels, and calls the King Hill track an easy family-friendly walk. The Mount Ngongotahā Nature Loop is, in DOC’s words, ideal for families or school groups.
Do any of these walks cost money?
Hamurana Springs charges entry: $18 for adults, $8 for children 5 to 15, free under 5. Reaching Tarawera Falls also needs a forestry access permit from the Kawerau i-SITE.
Can I take my dog?
On the two Redwoods walks, on a lead. At Kuirau Park, on a leash: the council lists it as a dog exercise area, though dogs aren’t allowed in children’s playgrounds. DOC allows no dogs on any of its tracks here, and Hamurana Springs allows only certified service dogs.
Can I visit Tarawera Falls any day?
No. Access is on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only, with a permit, and the forest gate is closed during the hours of darkness. The road may also close in summer when fire risk is high.
Which walks are timed one way?
DOC times the Ōkere Falls Track at 30 minutes one way and the Rotoma Bridle Track and Tarawera Falls Track at 20 minutes one way, so we give those times each way. DOC’s 20 minutes for King Hill isn’t marked either way, so allow up to about 40 minutes there and back.
Are there toilets?
DOC names toilets at the Ōkere Falls and Tarawera Falls car parks, the forest map shows toilets at the Redwoods i-SITE, and Hamurana Springs has toilets in its golf club and café. The council lists public toilets at Kuirau Park. King Hill Reserve has none.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Related links 2
- Department of Conservation: Lake Ōkataina walking tracks: times, lengths and starts for the Ngahopua, Te Auheke and other short walks at Lake Ōkataina, which can be linked for a longer outing.
- The Redwoods, Whakarewarewa Forest: Short Walks: the forest’s short walks from the Redwoods i-SITE, with links to the forest walking map.