Muriwai Coast Road
Muriwai · Auckland
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. Auckland Council’s own wording: “Auckland Council, Muriwai Regional Park, dogs panel, read 30 August 2026. Coast Road is not beach and it is not one of the named prohibited areas, so it falls under the panel's catch all: "All other areas ... On-leash ... All times - under control". The off leash section at Muriwai is the beach "from north of the surf tower" only, which is over the dunes and not this road, and the council asks visitors to "stay out of the dunes". Dogs are prohibited at all times south of the surf tower and on the seaward side of Waitea Road. Lead on for this one. Confirmed on the ground: the council's own dog access sign at the park entrance off Coast Road reads "Dog access. Dogs under control on a leash at all times" (Margie and Mr Bernard photographed it on 30 August 2026), so the sign and the website say the same thing”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. How we check dog rules.
Good to know
Dogs are allowed here. Keep them on the lead, watch for ground-nesting birds and stock, and read the signs at the gate.
About Muriwai Coast Road
Muriwai Coast Road covers 6.6 km, near Muriwai in Auckland.
Six and a half kilometres of gravel road up the back of the Five Mile Strip, with the dunes and Muriwai Beach on your left and Woodhill Forest on your right. It is a road walk rather than a track, wide and graded and easy underfoot, and the reason to do it is that almost nobody else does. Margie put us onto it: park at the car park next to the horse park, go through the gate, and follow the gravel north. Coast Road is walk-in access only. Woodhill Forest's own public access easement table, dated from 5 pm on 21 August 2024 and current when we read it on 30 August 2026, sets Coast Road to "Walk-in access only on Coast Road to access Muriwai Regional Park (5 Mile)". On foot you are fine. The same notice draws two hard lines: "no public access (by any means) east of Coast Road or north of Old Telephone Track", because that land is private. So do not turn off into the forest, and turn round where Telephone Track comes in. That junction is our 6.64 km turnaround, about 13.3 km if you walk back, and it is almost exactly the seven kilometres Margie described. There is no water and no shade on the road, the wind comes straight off the Tasman, and forestry and park vehicles do use it, so keep to the side and keep the lead handy. Auckland Council rangers manage the Five Mile Strip itself. Dogs are on lead here. The off leash beach is over the dunes to the west, but the council asks people to stay out of the dunes, so it is not a crossing you make from the road. If you want your dog loose, do Muriwai Beach North instead and drive to it.
It sits at the moderate end and gains roughly 48 m, and takes about 1 hr 24 to walk.
Dogs are allowed here, on the lead. This walk is on the map because Margie & Mr Bernard suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.
