Mount Matthews Track

Mount Matthews Track covers 11.8 km, near Wainuiomata in Wellington.

Mount Matthews is the high point of the Remutaka Range at 941 m and the tallest peak within reach of Wellington, and this is the long way in to it from the Catchpool Valley. DOC calls it an advanced tramping track and allows 11 to 12 hours return, which is the honest number rather than a cautious one. The walking splits into three quite different parts: a gentle graded 5 km along the Ōrongorongo Track to the arched bridge over the Turere Stream, then about 4 km up the riverbed and the Big Bend Track to Matthews Stream, marked with a large orange triangle, and then the climb itself. The distance and the time in the box above are one way to the summit, so double both for the day you will actually have. A poled route criss-crosses the stream for roughly 600 m to reach the start of the Mount Matthews Track on the true left, and from there it goes up hard through tree roots and beech for two to two and a half hours. The dog rule is a lead, and the reason for it is walking around in the dark nearby. The Remutaka Forest Park Trust has released North Island brown kiwi into the Turere Stream catchment north of the Ōrongorongo Track, about 1000 hectares of it, and DOC has closed that catchment to dogs completely. The route to Mount Matthews stays out of it, crossing at the Turere confluence and turning up the Ōrongorongo instead, but you walk the boundary to get there, so the lead is not a formality. DOC's own words for this track are “Dogs on a leash only”, the Ōrongorongo Track is on a lead end to end, and the signs on the ground mark where the closed ground starts. The one patch of off-lead in the whole park is between the road and Catchpool Stream opposite the visitor centre, which is a fine place to let a dog stretch before or after. Plan the day around the gate as much as the climb. The Catchpool Valley gate opens 6 am to 8 pm from 28 September to 7 April and 6 am to 6 pm from 8 April to 27 September, and it closes at the end of the day with your car behind it if you are slow. Catchpool Valley is 12 km south of Wainuiomata: follow the Coast Road for 10 km to the park entrance, then the valley road 2 km to the upper car park. If water is running over the ford, park short of it and use the Ngā Taonga Nature Walk to reach the car park. The riverbed section means this is a walk to skip after heavy rain, and the top is exposed enough that the weather up there is not the weather at the car. Georgina and Ash sent this one in with the route written out step by step, orange triangle and all, and made it about 26 km return. We draw 11.8 km to the summit, so close to 24 km there and back, a little under her figure but the same day out. It is the biggest day walk we hold in the Wellington region and it is not a first big day with a dog: it is a long approach, a steep climb on roots, and the same distance again to get home.

Graded expert, it climbs about 1,081 m overall, and takes about 4 hr 10 min to walk.

Dogs are allowed here, on the lead. This walk is on the map because Georgina & Ash suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.