Date visited: 22 June, 2021
Elevation: 24m
Volcanic history
The Puhinui Craters (of which there are three) are located inside the Puhinui Reserve, near Auckland Airport.
The three craters of Puhinui were only recognised as volcanic features in 2011.
I couldn’t find any information about their ages, but they may be associated with the eruption of Matukutureia (McLaughlin’s Mountain) which is a short distance to the east of this location.
Our visit
In the screenshot below, Pond Crater is the darker one (because it’s a pond) located at the top of the picture near the toilets. Arena Crater and Eroded Crater are at the bottom of the picture. The latter crater is not very well preserved and hard to see.
If you set off from the reserve entrance and to the left of Pond Crater, you’ll pass through a fam gate and down into a paddock which is often full of sheep (and sometimes lambs). As you make your way down the hill you can also see Matukutureia (McLaughlin’s Mountain). This is actually a better view of Matukutureia than you can get at Matukutureia itself.
These photos are from various visits to the area, as it is one of our homeschool meetup locations. Sometimes there are sheep, sometimes not. This photo with the lambs was from August 2023 (hence the kids are different sizes lol).
Stay on the path and you’ll come to another gate, which takes you through a little forested area (left) and up and out the other side into the “horse” part of the reserve.
This is where they have various horse-riding events, so there are some interesting structures dotted around.
You can also do this same walk in reverse by turning right at Pond Crater.
I can’t quite gauge where within the reserve I took this photo below, but it looks very cratery. It is possibly somewhere around the Arena Crater.
Directions and facilities
Search Prices Road, Wiri, on Google Maps. Do not search for “Puhinui Reserve”, because this will take you to the wrong side of the volcanic area. If coming from the south, you’ll take the southwestern motorway until it exits onto Puhinui Road, and Prices Road is on the left side halfway to the airport. There are toilets located at the start of the walkway. Be mindful that this is a working farm. Don’t interfere with the sheep and leave gates as you find them.
