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Location & access
DOC track reference point, not a verified trailhead, entrance or the whole route. Check the official route directions before travel.
Official location informationLocation source
DOC track reference point, not a verified trailhead, entrance or the whole route.
Reference point: -38.73005, 177.13675. WGS84 coordinates retained at the official service's returned precision; decimal resolution is not survey accuracy. Source positional accuracy is not specified.
DOC Maps walking and tramping reference point (WGS84), exact official-page GUID / Department of Conservation. Checked 2026-10-12.
Key facts
- Distance
- Not confirmed on the checked DOC page; see individual route sections
- Walking time
- 6 hr
- Track grade
- Advanced
- Location
- Lake Waikaremoana area / Te Urewera
- Dog access
- No dogs. Other pets on conservation land rules.
Checked against official sources on 8 October 2026. Rules and conditions are set by Department of Conservation — confirm with them before you go.
Route overview
It will take you six hours of moderate to hard walking to complete the Ruapani Circuit. The track is accessed from the Waikareiti Track and passes through beautiful forest and seven wetlands.
This DOC directory entry covers Ruapani Circuit Track in Gisborne, within Lake Waikaremoana area / Te Urewera. Where DOC groups several walks, times and grades refer to the listed options rather than a single continuous itinerary.
Distance, time and grade
- Distance: Not confirmed on the checked DOC page; see individual route sections
- Walking time: 6 hr
- DOC grade: Advanced
Access and alerts
Source checked 2026-10-08. This page is a dated snapshot, not a live track-status report. Check current DOC route information immediately before travelling. An absence of listed alerts does not establish that a route is open.
- Te Urewera alerts; First published on 17 October 2022. Last reviewed on 6 June 2026.
Dog access
No dogs. Other pets on conservation land rules.
Description
It will take you six hours of moderate to hard walking to complete the Ruapani Circuit. This description is in an anti-clockwise direction from the Waikareiti day shelter.
About half an hour beyond the Waikareiti day shelter, a left fork takes you onto the Ruapani Circuit Track, which passes several wetlands to exit onto the Lake Waikareiti Track again near the main road.
Distant views are rare but on the descent from Lake Ruapani, the final body of water, there is an enticing glimpse of Lake Waikaremoana, Panekire Bluff and Hawke's Bay in the distance.
Getting there
Start on the Lake Waikareiti Walk, which begins 200 m from the Āniwaniwa Visitor Centre on the road to Rotorua.
Know before you go
Take warm clothing, food, drink and a raincoat.
Nature and conservation
The forest is consistently beautiful on this track, especially the profusion of neinei (pineapple scrub, Dracopyhllum latifolium). Interesting plants grow around some of the lakelets, e.g. the insectivorous sundew, and New Zealand's tallest species of tree, the kahikatea.
Ruapani tarns
The Ruapani tarns are a stunning complex of seven unmodified high-altitude mires and bogs.
Local past geological events have created a landscape of humps and hollows in which the Ruapani Tarns sit.
Each wetland is different from the others and include open water, sedgelands, sphagnum moss and wire-rush-dominated bogs, herbfields and shrublands. Most are ephemeral with constantly fluctuating water levels.
Scaups/pāpango, grey ducks/pārera, Australian coots and little black shags may be seen.
Sources and reuse
Route descriptions and practical information reproduced from the Department of Conservation, Crown copyright, under CC BY 4.0, subject to DOC's copyright policy. Formatting has been adapted, including flattening page sections; follow the original DOC page for maps, section-specific layout, current notices and linked documents. Outdoor Next is independent and is not endorsed by DOC.
The accompanying photograph is a licensed general hiking illustration, not a photograph of this route.
