Lake Ōkataina Walking Tracks: Cascade Falls on Te Auheke Track

There are plenty of short walking tracks at Lake Ōkataina - I usually combine them if I want a longer day in the bush. I recommend downloading the NZTopo50 - North Island app as the tracks are loaded on there. Te Auheke Track is an easy 1.8km loop, with an additional side quest to Cascade Falls. All river crossings are bridged, so no need to get your feet wet. It’s a family-friendly track, well-marked and really steady underfoot. There might be some muddy sections if there’s been a decent downpour, but it’s always been in great condition whenever I’ve walked there.

Getting there: It’s free to park at the Ōkataina Outdoor Education Centre. The loop track starts at the southern-eastern end of the campground. From the parking area, keep the fenceline to your left and walk towards the far end of the campground until you see the wooden track sign. The gate to the education centre is locked at 8pm, and there’s no walking allowed at night.

Most of the track is wide and steady underfoot.

A kōtare/kingfisher sat on the fence post near the start of the track. I was using my new Smallrig camera clip on my backpack for the first time and unfortunately it got stuck. To be fair, it worked fine for the rest of my hike, so definitely a user error! Interestingly, even though there were plenty of birdsong in the bush (geez it was bloody loud too!), I didn’t see many near the forest floor. I heard plenty of tūi, the familiar wop-wop-wop of the kererū/wood pigeon, pīwakawaka/fantail and many others that I couldn’t distinguish in the chorus.

Rewarewa flower on the forest floor.

The rewarewa trees (Knightia excelsa, also known as New Zealand honeysuckle) were in full bloom and it was fun to photograph their flowers on the forest floor. Tūī love their sweet nectar, so that’s probably why there were so many around.

Then I saw it, the unmistakable silhouette of a wallaby. Ugh. It had already disappeared into the bush and down to the stream below before I realised what I had seen. I made a note of my location so I could report to reportwallabies.nz when I got home. It turned out I was just around the corner from the Cascade Falls turn-off. If you do spot a wallaby in the bush, like little hoppy, or even footprints, take note of your location and report it on the website. The waterfall is about a couple of minutes from the main track.

We had pretty decent downpours the day before in Edgecumbe, so I was surprised that Cascade Falls was its usual trickle. It’s still a lovely waterfall and if I had tea and biscuits with me, this would have been a great spot for morning tea. Note to self for next time. If you walk the track counterclockwise like I did, the main track takes you to the junction of Te Auheke and the link to the Rongomai Track - follow the signs back to the education centre. Happy exploring!

Cascade Falls