In Hikuai, walking options range from a 60-minute loop to tracks that take in tunnels, mining relics and a waterfall. You can choose based on what interests you most: a clearly measured loop, an underground passage or traces of the area’s mining history.

Walking tracks with different highlights

The Water Race Tunnels Track is a 1.9-kilometre loop that takes 60 minutes. It follows an old water race that carried water from the Third Branch Stream across the Tairua River to the Broken Hills Battery. Three tunnels were part of the water race, which was originally 3,300 metres long. The track makes it possible to understand how water was used for engineering purposes in the past.

The 500-metre-long Collins Drive offers a different tunnel experience, taking visitors through a real underground mine system. A walkway runs through the tunnel, and the passage takes 15 minutes. Glow-worms can be seen near the tunnel entrances. Bring a torch and check the safety requirements for the tunnels in advance.

The Puketui Walk is a flat walking track between two road ends. At one end, it crosses a stream, and the track also offers good views of the Tairua River. There are several loop options as well. Information about the route and crossing helps distinguish these options from a loop with a specified distance and duration.

Mining history along the tracks

The Government Battery Walk leads to the remains of a facility built to process ore during the Great Depression of the 1930s. From there, the track continues to a small waterfall and a pool. The Broken Hills Battery Walk, by contrast, focuses on a mine that operated successfully from 1896 to 1914. This track is an easy, flat walk.

The Gem of the Boom Walk also takes you into the mining past: this easy loop passes through a former mining settlement with relics. These include a jail believed to have been carved into solid rock; two stream crossings are bridged. The routes and destinations are clearly different: a loop and settlement relics here, a mine and waterfall there.

Since European settlement, Hikuai’s history has been shaped by kauri timber, kauri gum and gold. It is fitting, then, that several tracks are linked to former mining or waterworks facilities. For many years, the Tairua River was Hikuai’s main means of transport. When the Kopu-Hikuai Highway opened in 1967, it provided the Coromandel Peninsula with easy road access for agricultural produce and tourists.

A longer route in the surrounding area

In the area around Hikuai, the Tairua River Trail is a 6.4-kilometre walking and cycling route. It runs from Waterways in Pauanui through mangroves, native forest and rolling farmland to a point downstream from Hikuai. One access point is opposite the entrance to the Lakes Resort on Hikuai Settlement Road. Unlike the tracks to mining sites, this route connects different landscapes along the river and can be explored on foot or by bike.

For planning, the Hikuai tracks offer different points of reference: the Water Race Tunnels Track has a stated loop duration and distance, while the Collins Drive has a stated duration for the passage along the tunnel walkway. The Puketui Walk is characterised by its connection between two road ends and its stream crossing. This lets you choose a track based on its specific features without treating the different details as equivalent.

Discover more destinations: Hahei, Te Puru, Whenuakite, Cooks Beach, Tairua, Kuaotunu, Whangamata, Thames

For the wider travel overview: Thames-Coromandel District.