Tarawera-Ōkataina trail network gets $1m boost for tracks and campgrounds

Funding will address safety issues after a major rockfall in 2021 that closed the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway. Photo / DoC

Rotorua walkways and camping areas are in line for upgrades under a government investment announced for the Tarawera-Ōkataina trail network.

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says $1 million from the International Visitor Conservation and Tourism Levy (IVL) will go towards the upgrades.

The investment will help to reopen the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway and support upgrades across more than 22km of tracks and three campgrounds.

Potaka said Tarawera and Ōkataina were some of Rotorua’s “most iconic” visitor destinations, “attracting thousands of people every year and supporting local tourism and jobs”.

The funding would improve tracks, campgrounds, toilets, and visitor facilities, while also addressing safety issues after the 2021 rockfall that closed the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway, he said.

The upgrades would include work on the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway, Northern Tarawera Track, and the Tarawera Falls Track.

Campground upgrades would also be completed at Humphries Bay Campsite, Hot Water Beach Campground and Te Tapahoro Campground.

Potaka said the announcement showed why the Government was reforming conservation legislation.

The Government is putting up $1m to upgrade walkways and camping areas across the Tarawera-Ōkataina trail network. Photo / DoC

The project would also support wallaby control and wider biodiversity work across the area.

“The Conservation Amendment Bill currently before Parliament is about making it easier to deliver practical upgrades like this in the future,” Potaka said.

For “too long”, he said, outdated processes had slowed investment into tracks, huts, campgrounds, and visitor infrastructure on conservation land.

“Our reforms will help cut unnecessary delays while maintaining strong environmental protections and reinvesting back into conservation.”

The Department of Conservation (DoC) eastern North Island regional planner, Kev Buttell, said the Eastern Ōkataina Walkway had been closed since late January 2021 after a “major rockfall event” affected the track.

“We anticipate the track will be open by the end of 2026.”

Buttell said an additional slip occurred in 2023, about 2km from Te Koutu Pā.

The Eastern Ōkataina track has been swallowed in parts by lake levels. Photo / DoC

“Aside from slips, high lake levels have also inundated several hundred metres of track toward the southern end of the lake.”

He said those sections would be rebenched and the slip bypassed before the reopening of the track.

“We’ll also be clearing treefalls accumulated since the closure.”

Buttell said that in addition to physical tracks, interpretation panels and hazard signage would be overhauled.

“Much of the work is focused on enhancing visitor safety and experience.”