After months of safety work, walkers can once again follow a forest track to New Zealand’s Wairere Falls. The Wairere Falls Track near Matamata officially reopened on Nov. 4 at a ceremony led by iwi leaders and the Department of Conservation (DOC), the agency said. The route had been closed to the public since July 2025 because of rockfalls and safety concerns.
The reopening followed a 16-month project that replaced viewing structures and addressed hazards along the track. Geotechnical and structural assessments helped determine the repair options for the cliffside site, DOC said. The unstable rock and aging structures meant crews had several safety issues to address before the route could reopen.
The work included a new upper viewing platform, a bridge, a lower platform and stairs, and safety barriers. Crews also stabilized boulders. DOC said the previous upper platform, bridge and smaller lower structures were removed before replacement. The project combined urgent safety work with repairs to structures that were nearing the end of their service lives.
That joint approach involved Ngāti Hinerangi, Ngāti Hauā and Raukawa, alongside DOC and contractors. After the reopening ceremony, representatives from iwi, the conservation department, Manaaki Kaimai Mamaku and Matamata-Piako District Council walked the track together. DOC said the group went on a hīkoi to reflect on the work everyone had achieved.
The route’s final construction phase followed a separate full-closure period. In a September update, DOC said the track, car park and toilets would close from Sept. 7 while crews finished work, with a full reopening then expected by the end of November. The track had already been partly closed because of instability. In the closure notice, the agency said helicopters and machinery would operate at the site, and asked visitors to stay away from the work area.
Tim Aoake of Ngāti Hinerangi, the Wairere Mahi project manager, thanked the workers who helped make the track safe for hikers. He described the reopening as a chance for people to reconnect with the place. In remarks to DOC, Aoake said, “For us as Māori, these are good tohu that the whenua is rested and reinvigorated.”
Local walkers told SunLive’s Local Democracy Reporting service that they were eager to return. Rhonda Fawcett, who had walked the route weekly before it closed, said she had been counting down to the reopening. She also noted that clearing trees around the lookout had changed the view. Another walker, Andrew Burke, said the new vantage point made him feel closer to the waterfall.
Mayor Ash Tanner also told SunLive that the track draws visitors from beyond the district and is missed when closed. That is local testimony about the route’s value; the report appeared four days after reopening and gives no post-reopening visitor or business totals.
Wairere Falls drops 153 meters and is the highest waterfall in New Zealand’s North Island, according to DOC. The track starts near Matamata on the park’s western side and is about six kilometers return. DOC classifies it as easy to intermediate and estimates a three- to four-hour walk. Visitors can stop at a lower lookout before continuing to the upper platform, which looks across the Waikato countryside.
The restoration was not free of debate. SunLive reported an early $150,000 estimate and later cited $420,000 in costs to date. Waikato MP Tim van de Molen criticized how long the work took, while DOC eastern North Island manager Jessyca Bernard cited geotechnical assessments, engineering design, contractor procurement and difficult site conditions. DOC separately said the project was completed within its expected timeframe and budget. The reports do not define the estimates on the same basis, so neither a cost overrun nor an explanation of the difference is assumed here.
The reopening restores access to a popular local destination with safer, replaced structures after months of safety work. On Nov. 4, a ceremony led by iwi leaders and DOC and a post-ceremony hīkoi marked the return of the route and the work that made it possible.
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