Date visited: 15 July 2021
Elevation: 35m
Volcanic history
Pukewairiki erupted around 130,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest volcanoes in the Auckland Volcanic Field. The explosion crater is 500 metres wide. The crater itself is located on the shores of the Otara Creek, in the largely industrial/commercial suburb known to Aucklanders as Highbrook. Even though there’s no maunga to speak of here, there’s a fair amount of walking.
Our visit
You can see from the map it’s a pretty big area. According to the Auckland City Council website, the entire walk is 9 kilometres. While we did not cover all of it, we managed to get around the crater, across the hideously busy road and most of the way along the green line at the bottom heading from right to left, before having to admit I had no idea where the car was and summoning a rescue party in the form of my mum.
Notwithstanding, it was an interesting and pleasant meander when you were far enough away from the road to not smell exhaust fumes.
We weren’t sure where to begin the walk initially, but the kids spotted a small gate in the hedge here and took off towards it.
We made our way through some very expansive fields with miles and miles of harakeke, seeing nothing volcano-ish at all, until eventually we came across some evidence of a crater.
By this point I’d lost my bearings completely, so I have no idea of the direction of this photo. I think the bridge is Highbrook Drive and then State Highway 1 is the road beyond that.
Pukewairiki/Highbrook Park is dotted with interesting and probably very old trees.
There were several of these ponds below, with what looked like plugs at the bottom. I’m assuming these are some sort of flood mitigation devices.
Long walk is looooong.
Looking towards the city, north-east ish.
Directions and facilities
I had expected this spot to have toilets, given its size, but alas, we did not come across any. You can get to Highbrook Park by putting 55 Business Parade North into the GPS (that’s the “official” start of the walk according to the Auckland City Council), but there are various other places you could potentially park and start the walk. It’s a business park, so there is street parking available.
Happy adventuring,
