Walk status: On-lead
It's bloody hard finding walks you can do with dogs in the Waikato, so when I read about Lake Ngaroto, I thought it was worth a nosey and it was the perfect midway stop and a decent length to wear George out for the long drive ahead on our New Plymouth adventure.
On a quiet gravel road in Te Awamutu, positioned at the end of Bank Road, is Lake Ngaroto. Thankfully I had read where the entrance to the walk was, otherwise you could be confused on first arrival on where you're meant to go. However on popping out the other end I realise its easy to see the start of the walk in the carpark situated at the lakefront.
Either park up at the Te Awamutu Rowing Club like I did and start the walk there (to the right of the Rowing Club), or carry on down the road a bit further to the main carpark and start the walk from the other end. The walk is a complete loop of the Lake, although you can actually barely see the lake, its 6kms in total and takes between 60-90mins depending on your pace. You mainly get views of the bush and the surrounding farmlands.
The walk is a series of boardwalks, bush or gravel paths and you really need to commit to walking the full length as there isn't really a suitable midway turning point. The entire walk is flat though, so not challenging.
There are helpful markers along the full route to let know how far you've walked, which is great at the start when you're enthusiastic, not so great at about the 3km mark when you realise you're still only halfway round! I was a bad parent and completely forgot to take Georges water with me. You need to take water for you and your dog, although you're walking around a lake there is no access to water - nothing that looks drinkable even for the doggies. It's very open to the elements in some places, so can be very hot.
Location: Access via Bank Road, Te Awamutu
Things to know:
There are toilets here
Plenty of parking options
No suitable drinking water, so take some on the walk for you and your dog