Waioweka Gorge Scenic Reserve

Waioweka Gorge Scenic Reserve is a protected natural area with native forest and grassland along State Highway 2, where steep hills rise to varying elevations. Multiple walking tracks wind through the dense vegetation and cross two significant bridges that span the landscape.

In the late 1800s, settlers tried farming the land but abandoned their efforts due to economic hardship and soil erosion. These failed attempts shaped the area's development and show how the landscape eventually resisted human alteration.

The place is known as Te Awa a Tamatea, a name that carries local significance through the forest and waterways. Walkers today move through these passages as a way to experience the land's connection to its past inhabitants.

You can enter from State Highway 2, where three different walking tracks begin. Bring sturdy footwear and allow plenty of time, as the paths wind through forest and hilly terrain.

The Tauranga Bridge is one of just two harp suspension bridges in New Zealand and was built in 1922 within the forest. This unusual structure shows a rare engineering approach that visitors can experience firsthand when crossing the gorge.