Wairere Falls Track reopened after a 16-month rebuild

The Department of Conservation said on November 5, 2026, that Wairere Falls Track reopened on November 4 after a ceremony with iwi. The track, on the western side of Kaimai Mamaku Conservation Park near Matamata, had been closed to the public in July 2025 because of rockfall and structures at the end of their life. Operations manager Jessyca Bernard said geotechnical and structural checks set the repair method on the cliff. DOC worked with Ngāti Hinerangi, Ngāti Haua, and Raukawa. The 16-month job replaced a top viewing platform, a bridge, a lower platform and stairs, and safety barriers, and it included boulder stabilisation. Bernard said the work finished on budget and on the expected schedule, with Avalon Industrial Services and Walkway Solutions on the crew.

After the ceremony, people from iwi, DOC, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku, and Matamata-Piako District Council walked the track. Tim Aoake of Ngāti Hinerangi, project manager for Wairere Mahi, said the day was sunny and the birds were vocal, which he took as a sign the land had rested. The falls drop 153 metres, the highest in the North Island. Walkers can stop at a lower lookout or continue to the upper platform and its view over eastern Waikato. The return walk is about 6 kilometres, three to four hours, graded easy to intermediate. The news is the reopening and the structures that were replaced. Cultural interpretation panels were described as a possibility still being explored, not as signs already installed.