To Waihiu Stream 5 km
To Waiwhiu Kauri Grove 9 km
To Dome Summit 10 km
Once up the steps from Govan Wilson Road, follow the clay 4WD track (it passes a private home so please keep to the track). Enjoy the views & the rusty old bus while following along the ridge to the junction with Conical Peak Rd. Take the right fork and continue on this 4WD track until reaching a turnoff on the left onto a narrow bush track in DOC’s Totara Scenic Reserve.
Follow the marked bush track which eventually descends steeply down the ridge into the Waiwhiu Valley. At the bottom of the hill, the track turns right across a small creek and follows the true right of the Waiwhiu Stream for approximately 1.3km. At this point, the track crosses the Stream (take care not to slip) to enter private forestry land.
The track quickly joins the Waiwhiu Valley Rd (a private forestry road). Turn right and follow the road for some 300 metres; turn left into a clay 4WD road (Fisher Road - but sign keeps disappearing) which climbs steeply through pines. Just over the brow of the hill, the track turns off the 4WD road (easy to miss) into the pines for a short climb to the ridgeline and DOC’s Dome Forest.
This narrow bush track now follows along the ridgeline through attractive podocarp and broadleaf forest with glimpses of the surrounding countryside and coast. About 90mins from the Dome Cafe, the track traverses the Waiwhiu Kauri Grove. Here 20 mature kauri of up to 4 m girth hint at the forest's original magnificence.
The track then climbs to the Dome trig. Then there’s a few more ups and downs along the ridge, including a steep scramble around large rocks, on the way to the Lookout platform with views across the Mahurangi Peninsula to the Hauraki Gulf. The track then descends 1 km on upgraded walkway & steps to the Dome Cafe carpark and SH1.
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