Karangahake Windows Walk
Alerts
NIWA weather risks
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Forecast point: Karangahake Gorge (40m) · 0.1km away
Check the DOC website for current alerts and conditions before you go. This site gets current alert info from DOC, but is not an official source of information.
This short walk boasts beautiful scenery and spectacular mining remnants including disused gold mining tunnels - kids will love it!
Elevation
Cover mapped summer 2023/24.
Description
From the Karangahake Reserve car park begin by crossing both the suspension bridge over the Ohinemuri River, and then the Lower Waitawheta Gorge bridge. Go up the stairs and through the abandoned buildings and machinery of the Talisman battery.
Then follow the rail track along the gorge and into the old gold mining tunnels. The tunnel has four openings (windows) which look down on the spectacular river gorge far below. The track emerges from the cliff and descends a staircase before crossing the river on a suspension bridge and returning on the opposite side of the gorge along the Crown Tramway Track to the car park.
Getting there
The Karangahake Gorge is on SH2 between Waihi and Paeroa, at the southern limits of the Coromandel Peninsula.
Know before you go
A torch is recommended for the gold mining tunnels.
The lower part of the Crown Track between the Karangahake Gorge Historic Walkway and the top suspension bridge will regularly be closed when heavy rainfall is forecast. This is to ensure public safety, which could be affected by weather-induced slips, rock fall and rapidly rising streams and rivers.
Dickey Flat Campsite is still accessible via the Windows Walk when the lower Crown Track is closed.
Weather
Forecast at the start of the track