Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk, Multi-day hiking trail at Lake Waikaremoana, New Zealand.
The Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk is a 44-kilometre tramping track along the southern and western shores of Lake Waikaremoana in Te Urewera, North Island. It runs between trailheads at Onepoto in the south and Hopuruahine in the north, passing through several forest types and grassland with views over the lake. The route crosses private land and touches the Puketukutuku Peninsula Kiwi Refuge.
The track runs through Te Urewera, the former national park that was disestablished and granted legal personhood in 2014. The Ngāi Tūhoe have lived in this region for centuries, and their territory includes the lake and its forests. The Great Walk was later developed to give trampers access to this remote area, with trailheads at Onepoto and Hopuruahine.
The trail passes through the territory of the Ngāi Tūhoe people, who have lived in this region for many generations. The place names along the route come from the Tūhoe language and carry stories tied to specific features of the land.
The track runs between trailheads at Onepoto in the south and Hopuruahine in the north, both on State Highway 38, so a shuttle bus or boat is needed to return to your starting point. All huts and campsites except Panekire Hut can be reached by boat, and there are boat ramps along the highway. A motor camp sits at Home Bay near the Āniwaniwa Visitor Centre.
The Te Urewera area that the trail crosses became the first landscape in the world to be granted legal personhood in 2014, under a New Zealand law. This means the land itself is treated as a legal entity, with rights of its own rather than being owned by the state or any individual.
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