Te Araroa - 03 Waikato - b Rangiriri to Huntly

Walkers are offered protection of the taniwha Tarakokomako. And told the names the seven now-vanished ancestral villages and the two existing marae en route. The plaque carved with a taniwha has a greeting from Tainui, the people of Waikato.

Covering 15.9 km, this is a substantial hike requiring a reasonable base fitness. Most walkers complete it in about 3 hours and 32 minutes.

This linear trail moves from one end to the other without looping back. A return journey by transport — or retracing the path — is needed to get back to the start. The trail is officially waymarked as TA03b, so look out for the trail markers along the way.

This is a Local Walking Network (LWN) trail — a community-level route perfect for exploring the immediate surroundings, popular with locals and visitors alike.