Peatland Ridge Track
Raumati South · Wellington
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: “Greater Wellington Regional Council, Queen Elizabeth Park, dog walking panel, read 29 August 2026: “Dogs are welcome in all parts of the park, except for the Te Ara o Tipapa Loop and Dune Swamp Loop. While dogs are not required to be on a lead, please keep them under control and pick up after them at all times.” This track is neither of the two exclusions, so dogs are welcome here and off lead is allowed under control. One caution on the source itself: the Know before you go panel further up the same page names only Te Ara o Tipapa, and the 2026 park brochure also names only Te Ara o Tipapa. Two of the three are silent on the Dune Swamp Loop, so we treat Dune Swamp as no dogs until the council reconciles its own pages”. Evidence: the rule-setter’s own published wording. 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 Peatland Ridge Track
Near Raumati South in Wellington, Peatland Ridge Track runs 1.6 km.
Half an hour of gentle grass ridge between Rainbow Court in Raumati South and the Pony Club gate, with the whole of Queen Elizabeth Park laid out below you. The council calls it 1.4 km and easy to moderate. We measure the line at 1.66 km, which is the difference between a rounded figure and a GPS trace, so allow forty minutes if you stop to look. It is a farm to forest walk in the literal sense. You start on open pasture, and as you work north the regenerating natives and the new wetlands take over, part of the peat restoration work going on across this side of the park. The ridge is low but it is enough: this is the piece of QE Park with the views, out over the paddocks to the coast one way and up to the Raumati escarpment the other. Underfoot it is grass, reasonably flat, and it can be soft going in winter. Dogs are welcome and they do not need a lead. Greater Wellington allows dogs in every part of the park except the Te Ara o Tipapa Loop and the Dune Swamp Loop, and asks only that you keep them under control and pick up. Worth knowing before you set off: horses use this track too, it is designated for them, so a dog with a shaky recall is better on the lead when you meet one. The Pony Club at the north end is members only, so turn round at the gate rather than wandering in. Parking is easier at the Raumati entrance off The Esplanade than at Rainbow Court, which is a residential cul de sac. From there you can link across on Te Ara o Whareroa and pick the ridge up at its western end.
Expect easy going, with around 9 m of climb, and takes about 20 min to walk.
Dogs are welcome here. This walk is on the map because Kellie & Jack suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.