Walk status: Off-lead and On-lead
By chance we came across this walk yesterday when driving home from Tapapakanga, when a friend mentioned thats where her friend takes her dog for a walk so we thought we would check it out today.
Arriving at Waikowhai, you head down a driveway to the main carpark. Here you will find the kids playground, toilets and access to the off-lead dog area. There are a few walks you can do here, as indicated on the sign at the entrance, but we chose to just explore the off-lead area today.
Heading left from the carpark, is the off-lead area, a long pathway leads down to a big open area full of well established trees. The sign says you can either head in the direction of Cape Horn Road, or down to Waikowhai Beach. We chose the beach. To the left of the track that takes you to the beach is a set of stairs that lead back up to the main carpark. You either can enter the off-leash area via those stairs, or walk the full track like we did. Everything is downhill, meaning you need to be prepared to hike back up it!
The beach is a great place for the dogs to take a dip, the tide was a little far out when we visited and George had just had a bath so I wasn't going to encourage him to start rolling in the sand. A short stroll along the beach and we headed back up the hill. There is another set of stairs on your left heading up the hill that takes you to the Historic Changing Sheds, and also to Cape Horn Road. We chose to go back the way we came and have another run around in the park area before heading back up to the main carpark.
There is a pathway running alongside the toilets and up a small hill that takes you to a lookout point for some nice photos. In addition, if you carry on down the hill there are walks you can do down here (on-lead) and another carpark and access to another beach. Although there was only one other person here when we arrived, id suggest walking down to Waikowhai versus parking at the bottom carpark for the other beach, as its likely to be more crowded here than an area only accessible to walkers via the off-leash area.
Location: Waikowhai Road, Hillsborough
Things to know:
There are toilets here
There is a kids playground here
Dogs must be on-lead on the Waikowhai Walkway, off-lead only in the designated area
You can read about all the different walking routes available here:
