Gladstone Reserve
Levin · Manawatū-Whanganui · Out & Back
This walk comes from licensed public walk data and is being progressively confirmed against the authorities. Signs on the day always win. The rule-setter’s own wording: “Horowhenua District Council's Dog Control Bylaw 2025 lists Gladstone Reserve in the Unleashed column of Schedule 2, Areas where dogs are allowed, for Levin. The same bylaw prohibits dogs on all land administered by the Department of Conservation without a DOC permit (or DOC signage saying where a dog may go), so the off-leash rule ends where the reserve does and the Tararua tracks begin”. Evidence: a hand-checked correction against the authority. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Gladstone Reserve
This short track follows 0.5 km as an out-and-back, near Levin in Manawatū-Whanganui.
Gladstone Reserve sits at 494 Gladstone Road, about ten minutes east of Levin, where the Ōhau River comes out of the Tararua foothills. Horowhenua District Council describes it as a horseshoe shaped reserve surrounded by native bush, with swimming in the river and picnic ground under the trees, and it is the road end access for the bush tracks that climb to the Waiopehu huts and link to Te Araroa. Dogs are off lead inside the reserve: the council's Dog Control Bylaw 2025 lists Gladstone Reserve in the Unleashed column of its Levin schedule. The boundary is the thing to watch. The same bylaw prohibits dogs on all land administered by the Department of Conservation unless you hold a DOC permit or there is DOC signage saying otherwise, so the moment the track leaves the reserve and starts up the valley, the rule flips from off lead to no dogs. Check the water before anyone swims, since the Ōhau can run high after rain and warm months bring toxic algae risk to rivers across the lower North Island. The name was spelt Cladstone in the walk data we licensed; Kellie and Jack put us right.
Graded easy, it stays flat overall, and takes about 6 min to walk.
Walkers come for river frontage and big views. Dogs are welcome here.
