From to rural fun!

A new rural wonderland is ready to be explored and enjoyed – on foot, bike or horse – by Western Bay of Plenty residents and visitors alike with the o cial opening of the Waitekohekohe Recreational Park this weekend.

e recreational park located on ompsons Track, about 15 minutes’ drive south of Katikati, opens this Saturday, March 4 – six years after a concept for a park comprising of horse riding, mountain bike trails, and bush walks was initially proposed.

e park is a council-owned reserve in the upper hill slope catchments of the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park, covering an area of 87.982 hectares and includes an estimated 5km of the main Waitekohe Stream margins.

Horse riding space

In 2017 the previously-leased forestry block returned to Western Bay of Plenty District Council ownership at the same time as local horse riders were looking for spaces for horse riding.

Katch Katikati manager Jacqui Knight called a public meeting to gauge interest in building horse trails in the forestry block. “We had about 80 people attend and half of them were mountain bikers. From this meeting we formed a small committee to start making plans,” says Jacqui.

e plans were eventually adopted into e mountain bike carpark at 360 ompsons Track is complete and awaits a toilet and weather shelter, while the equestrian carpark at 252 ompsons Track is nished and includes a toilet, corrals, weather shelter and washdown station. e project, developed in partnership between Katch Katikati and WBOPDC, has involved a large and diverse group of locals. “Our volunteers have put in hundreds of hours marking out tracks, installing signs, and meeting to discuss plans and management issues,” says Jacqui.

WBOPDC’s Long Term Plan, which came into e ect in 2021 when funding was also available to start development of the reserve.

To date the park has ve mountain bike tracks, an equestrian area where existing forestry tracks have been cleared and new trails created –o ering about two hours’ worth of riding, along with a jumping alley and galloping track.

Future plans for the park include building more mountain bike tracks and an additional equestrian track on the Lund Rd-side through the pines.

Hills to Ocean

With the distance from the reserve to the coast just 5.5km, the idea of linking ecological and archaeological signi cant areas in a ‘Hills to Ocean’ concept is a goal for the reserve. e ‘Waitekohekohe’ name was gifted by Ngai Tamawhariua in reference to the ancestral name for this area and its relation to spiritual waters, a sense of yearning and climbing tree and vines.

Pest control

Environmental group Project Parore is a project partner –with their volunteers already undertaking pest control on the Lund Rd side of the block and will look to extend this across the whole reserve. e aim is to enhance biodiversity and habitat of the Waitekohekohe Reserve. e park has been created and will be managed by e Katikati Recreational Park Development Group, with its major partner WBOPDC contributing sta expertise and a budget of just under $1m million during ve years for development of this project.

“ is is a project that will bring great bene ts to Katikati in many ways and enjoyment for many locals and visitors,” says Jacqui.

“ ere aren’t many horse riding places in the district and we’ve heard people will be travelling from out of town to make use of the park. e mountain bike tracks o er about an hour of riding on exceptionally good tracks.” Dog walkers are also catered for with many tracks available for walkers and dogs under control. Everyone is welcome to the o cial opening of Waitekohekohe Recreational Park this Saturday March 4 at 10am at 252 ompsons Track, Katikati – it’s a great opportunity to explore the reserve on foot, check out a swimming hole or ride the mountain bike tracks. e park is open seven days at 252 & 360 ompsons Track. Visit: www.waitekohekohe.nz