Hīkoi Ngātahi Loop, Woodhill Forest
Muriwai · Auckland · Loop
This walk was suggested by the community and checked against the authority quoted above before it was published. The route line comes from official track data. The rule-setter’s own wording: “Dogs are permitted but must always be under control. They must be on a leash at high-traffic entry points and the stretch of Grass Track also used by horse riders (refer to map). Dog-walkers must give way to horse-riders. Excrement must be removed. (Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara, Hīkoi Ngātahi page, woodhillforest.co.nz/hikoi-ngatahi/, read 5 September 2026. Woodhill Forest is private land owned by Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara, the post-settlement entity for Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara, and managed by its subsidiary Ngahere Ltd, so the owner sets the dog rule here and no council bylaw or DOC notice overrides it.) The permission is real but it is gated, and the gate is the owner's own wording too: “To participate in Hīkoi Ngātahi, walkers must either hold a current membership registration or complete a casual registration for the day”, and “All participants must carry their ID card or casual walk confirmation while on the trails. Failure to do so may result in being asked to leave or facing trespassing action.” A casual walk is $2 per visit and memberships run $100, $85, $60 or $35 depending on when in the year you buy. You scan a QR code in and out at the trail entry and exit points, casual walkers wear a hi-visibility vest of their own and members wear the Hīkoi Ngātahi one, and there is no walking during hours of darkness. One more thing the owner publishes that dog owners should read, from the notice dated 21 April 2026: Auckland Council's possum control programme is finished and it has been “safe to bring dogs back into Woodhill Forest starting May 6, 2026”, but they add that “dog owners must remain vigilant” and advise keeping the dog “under control, within sight, and preferably on a leash to ensure their safety and prevent ingestion of carcasses.””. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
The landholder’s permission is required before any dog walks here: the land is privately owned and access is arranged with Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara before you go, not from a DOC office. The details below say exactly who to ask and how far ahead.
About Hīkoi Ngātahi Loop, Woodhill Forest
Hīkoi Ngātahi Loop, Woodhill Forest covers 6.0 km, near Muriwai in Auckland, walked as a loop.
A 6 km loop through Woodhill Forest, north of Muriwai, on the walking network Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara opened to the public as Hīkoi Ngātahi. Daniel sent it in and then sent us the GPS track for it, which is the only reason this page has a line on it: the owner publishes a map poster rather than a route file, so without his recording there was nothing to draw. He has walked it hundreds of times. It rolls rather than climbs, about 150 m of rise spread right around the circuit with no real hill in it, and it takes most people about an hour and a half. You can walk it in either direction. Daniel's line goes out through the stream section, where there are swimming holes a dog will find before you do, and then into the forested parts, with the track staying clear and easy to follow the whole way. Watch for mountain bike trails leading off the main route through the second half of the loop: those are not part of the walking network, and the owner asks walkers to stay on the designated tracks. The thing to sort before you drive out is access, because this is private land and not a public reserve. You either hold a Hīkoi Ngātahi membership or you complete a casual registration on the day, which is $2 a visit. Carry the ID card or the casual confirmation with you, scan the QR code in when you start and out when you finish, and wear a hi-vis vest, your own if you are walking casually. No walking after dark. None of that is our rule, it is the owner's, and walking the forest without it counts as trespassing. Dogs are welcome, which is the owner's own call and a generous one on a working forest. They ask that your dog is always under control, on a leash at the busy entry points and along the stretch of Grass Track that horse riders share, and that dog walkers give way to horses. Pick up after them. Worth knowing that the possum control operation that had dogs shut out of the forest ended in May 2026, and the owner's advice since is to keep the dog within sight and preferably leashed anyway, so it cannot pick up a carcass. The Cable Road side of the forest that people walk is a different matter: it sits outside the Hīkoi Ngātahi network, so the pass does not cover it.
Expect moderate going, with around 153 m of climb, and takes about 1 hr 27 to walk.
The landholder’s permission is required before any dog walks here: the land is privately owned and access is arranged with Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara before you go. This walk is on the map because Daniel & Zola suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.
