The Northern Forest is the large, bush-covered section of East Harbour Regional Park lying between Wainuiomata and Eastbourne. It stretches across the ridges above Lowry Bay, York Bay, Days Bay and Eastbourne, with access from both sides of the hills. It is one of East Harbour Regional Park’s four distinct areas, alongside Gollan’s Valley, Parangarahu Lakes and Baring Head/Ōrua-pouanui.
Landscape and forest
The forest occupies a complicated landscape of steep ridges, narrow gullies and deeply incised stream valleys. Much of the higher country contains mature hard and black beech forest, mixed with northern rātā, kāmahi and regenerating broadleaf vegetation. Lower and wetter valleys contain areas of kahikatea, pukatea and nīkau, while a pocket of lowland rimu–tawa forest has been identified near Butterfly Creek.
Northern rātā is one of its most distinctive features. The area also has a particularly rich native orchid flora and supports a broad range of forest birds. Tūī, kererū, pīwakawaka, korimako, riroriro, miromiro, ruru and kārearea have all been recorded, while North Island robins have previously been returned to the forest through restoration work.
Tracks from Wainuiomata
Lees Grove Track climbs through a sheltered gully to Rātā Ridge. It can be combined with the Fern Gully Track and a short visit to Lowry Trig to form the 4.8-kilometre Trig Loop, officially estimated at about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Rātā Ridge Track connects the Stanley Street area with Lowry Trig and the main ridge. Greater Wellington describes the longer route from Wainuiomata Hill through to Stanley Street as approximately 6 kilometres and two hours, although its steep and sometimes slippery sections make it a reasonably demanding walk.
The Traverse is the major through-trip across the forest. It runs for around 13 kilometres, passing Lowry Trig and Hawtrey Trig, and is graded as a hard five-hour tramp.
From the Eastbourne side, tracks rise from Lowry Bay, Days Bay, Muritai and Korohiwa. Butterfly Creek is the best-known destination, with a picnic area deep inside the forest and several possible approaches from Eastbourne.
Access & information
Approaching from Wainuiomata, the Lees Grove–Rātā Ridge–Fern Gully circuit provides one of the clearest introductions to the Northern Forest: native bush, steep gullies, mature ridge forest and glimpses towards Wellington Harbour, all within a relatively compact loop.
There are no facilities within most of the Northern Forest, conditions can change quickly, and several tracks become slippery after rain. Dogs are permitted but must remain on leads.
