Last updated November 2026
This list brings together seven walks in and around Rotorua for anyone using a wheelchair or pushing a pushchair, or walking with someone who needs a smoother, gentler path. Each one is rated by the people who manage it: Rotorua Lakes Council, the Department of Conservation (DOC), the managers of Whakarewarewa Forest, or the operator of Hamurana Springs.
The ratings differ, so each entry says exactly what its manager rates it for. Three walks are rated for both wheelchairs and pushchairs, two for wheelchairs only and one for pushchairs only, and the council calls one “accessibility friendly” without naming either. They range from redwood forest and the city lakefront to a lakeside wetland, a spring-fed nature reserve and a bubbling mud pool south of the city.
How We Chose These Walks
Every walk here carries its manager’s own published rating: Rotorua Lakes Council’s lake reserve pages, DOC’s track pages, the Whakarewarewa Forest walking map, and Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve’s own visitor information.
We quote each rating as the manager words it, along with every caveat that comes with it, such as “in dry conditions” in the Redwoods. Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa’s national tracks data marks no Rotorua walk as suitable for wheelchairs, so it added nothing here. Conditions change, so check the manager’s page before you go.
Whakarewarewa Forest (The Redwoods)
Redwood Memorial Grove Walk
The Whakarewarewa Forest walking map rates this loop “Suitable for prams and wheelchairs in dry conditions”, calling it a “Well formed track, suitable for most ages and fitness levels”. It winds through Californian redwoods planted in 1901, now about 67 metres tall and 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 car park on Tītokorangi Drive (Long Mile Road). The loop is 2 km and takes about 30 minutes; follow the arrows in the direction they point. Toilets are at the car park. Dogs must be on a lead.
Waitawa Walk
The same forest map gives Waitawa the same rating, “Suitable for prams and wheelchairs in dry conditions”, and lists it as a walking track rather than a shared walking and biking trail.
The 3.4 km loop takes about an hour from the i-SITE car park on Tītokorangi Drive. It extends the Redwood Memorial Grove Walk through the redwoods into a stand of Douglas fir, past silver ferns and giant mamaku tree ferns, and joins a nature trail where many of the trees and plants are named.
Follow the arrows, as the forest’s walks are designed as circuits. The managers encourage using the forest in daylight hours only. Dogs on a lead.
Lake Rotorua
Rotorua Walkway: Lakefront Reserve to Sulphur Point
Rotorua Lakes Council lists “Access to Rotorua walking track (accessibility friendly)” at both Lakefront Reserve and Sulphur Point. It names neither wheelchairs nor pushchairs and gives no surface or length for the walkway between them. Its Rotorua Walkway brochure times the Rotorua Lakefront section, along the lakefront promenade, at 20 minutes, and reaches Sulphur Point, with its mud pools and sulphur vents, in the 25-minute Motutara section, without saying whether those times are one way.
Stay on the path through the geothermal area; some birds nesting at Sulphur Point are threatened species. Lakefront Reserve has public toilets, a playground and mobility card parking; Sulphur Point has toilets and parking. No overnight parking.
Waikawau/Hannahs Bay Wetland Walkway
Rotorua Lakes Council lists a “Wheelchair-accessible wetland walkway” at Waikawau/Hannahs Bay Reserve, a large, flat reserve between Rotorua Airport and Lake Rotorua. That rating is for wheelchairs; the council doesn’t mention pushchairs. Its reserves brochure describes a raised walkway through regenerating kahikatea forest in the wetland. The council gives no length, time or surface.
The reserve also has a mobility playground, public toilets and barbecues, and its vehicle gates open from 8am to 8.30pm all year.
The council’s dog exercise area here excludes the part west of the North-Eastern drain, by Willow Avenue, and all playgrounds and barbecue areas; the council doesn’t say which rule covers the wetland walkway, so ask before you take a dog.
Hamurana Springs Self-Guided Walk
Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve, which runs this paid walk, suggests bringing a “baby pushchair (with sturdy wheels) if needed”. That covers pushchairs only; the operator doesn’t mention wheelchairs. The trails lead to the North Island’s deepest natural freshwater spring and sites significant to Ngāti Rangiwewehi. The main trail takes 30 minutes; allow at least an hour.
Entry is $18 for adults, $8 for children 5 to 15, free under 5. Winter hours are 9am to 4pm Tuesday to Sunday, so it’s closed on winter Mondays; last entry is an hour before closing, and it may close in high winds.
Toilets are in the golf club and café by the car park, 773 Hamurana Road. No dogs except certified service dogs.
Lake Ōkāreka
Lake Ōkāreka Walkway
Rotorua Lakes Council rates this walkway “Wheelchair and pushchair accessible until Silver Beach (about 2 kilometres)”. Start at the council’s lakeside reserve on Acacia Road, where some parking is available, and follow the signs along the shore through native trees and shrubs, farmland, beach and wetland, with a stretch of timber boardwalk.
The walkway carries on to the lake’s outlet, roughly 2.5 km from the start, but the rating stops at Silver Beach. The council allows about 1.5 hours return for the whole walkway and gives no time for the Silver Beach stretch alone. Dogs and bicycles are not permitted.
South of Rotorua
Waiotapu Boardwalk
DOC says this track “is very short it is suitable for all types of fitnesses, wheelchair access is also available”. That is a wheelchair rating; DOC doesn’t mention pushchairs.
The boardwalk takes 2 minutes one way, to a view of hot, bubbling mud pools on the site of what was once New Zealand’s largest mud volcano, whose cone stood until 1925. It’s 27 km south of Rotorua: turn off SH5 onto Loop Road, opposite Waikite Road, and drive 2 km. This is a fragile geothermal area, so keep to the track and keep children under close supervision at all times. No dogs and no biking. DOC names no toilets.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who rates these walks for wheelchairs and pushchairs?
Each walk’s manager: Rotorua Lakes Council for the lakefront, Hannahs Bay and Lake Ōkāreka; DOC for the Waiotapu Boardwalk; the Whakarewarewa Forest walking map for the two Redwoods walks; and Hamurana Springs Nature Reserve for its own walk.
Which walks are rated for both wheelchairs and pushchairs?
The Redwood Memorial Grove Walk and the Waitawa Walk, both in dry conditions only, and the Lake Ōkāreka Walkway as far as Silver Beach. Hannahs Bay and Waiotapu are rated for wheelchairs, and Hamurana Springs for pushchairs.
Can I use the Redwoods walks after rain?
The forest map rates both walks for prams and wheelchairs in dry conditions only, so wet weather is outside the rating.
What does “accessibility friendly” mean on the lakefront?
Those are Rotorua Lakes Council’s words for access to the walking track at Lakefront Reserve and Sulphur Point. The council doesn’t say wheelchair or pushchair, or describe the surface.
Can I take a wheelchair at Hamurana Springs?
The operator suggests a pushchair “with sturdy wheels” and doesn’t mention wheelchairs, so check with Hamurana Springs before you go. Entry is paid, and it’s closed on Mondays in winter.
Are there accessible toilets?
The managers list toilets at the Redwoods i-SITE car park, Lakefront Reserve, Sulphur Point, Hannahs Bay and Hamurana’s golf club and café, but none of their current pages says whether they’re accessible, so ask before you go.
Can I take my dog?
On a lead in the Redwoods. Dogs aren’t allowed on the Lake Ōkāreka walkway or the Waiotapu Boardwalk, and only certified service dogs at Hamurana Springs. Hannahs Bay Reserve is partly a council dog exercise area, but the council doesn’t say which rule covers the wetland walkway, and its lakefront and Sulphur Point listings give no dog rule.
Spotted something incorrect on this page? Let us know.
Related links 3
- Rotorua Lakes Council: Lake Rotorua: facilities at Lakefront Reserve, Sulphur Point, Waikawau/Hannahs Bay and the other council reserves around the lake.
- The Redwoods, Whakarewarewa Forest: Maps: download the forest walking map, which marks the walks suitable for prams and wheelchairs in dry conditions.
- Rotorua Lakes Council: Lake Ōkāreka and Boyes Beach: the Lake Ōkāreka walkway, its access rating to Silver Beach and the Boyes Beach reserve facilities.