Russell Reserve Loop
Waikanae · Wellington · 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. Kāpiti Coast District Council’s own wording: “Kāpiti Coast District Council Dog Control Bylaw 2019 (amended 2023), Schedule Two “Dog on-leash areas”, section 1 Inland dog on-leash areas: “Dogs must be under continuous leash control at all times in dog on-leash areas”, and clause 1(f) of that list names “Native bush reserves, including but not limited to Wi Parata Reserve and Russell Reserve”. Clause 6.8: “Every dog shall be kept under continuous control / on-leash while that dog is in a dog on-leash area.” Russell Reserve appears nowhere in Schedule One (no dog areas) or Schedule Three (dog off-leash areas), so the on-leash rule is the whole rule here, with no seasonal switch”. 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 Russell Reserve Loop
Russell Reserve Loop covers 0.5 km, near Waikanae in Wellington, walked as a loop.
A short circuit through a pocket of remnant lowland coastal forest in the middle of Waikanae, between Ngaio Road and Ngarara Road. The line mapped here is Kellie's own recorded track and it measures about 560 m on the flat, so it is a ten minute wander rather than an outing. She walks it with Jack, and it is the second of these Waikanae bush pockets she has put on the map. The forest is the point. This is remnant bush rather than replanting, mapped as woodland and held by Kāpiti Coast District Council, so the canopy is mature and the paths run under it in shade. The track leaves Ngaio Road near number 100, works west through the trees on a formed path, and comes back on a slightly different line a little to the north, so it walks as a loop rather than a there and back. It is flat the whole way and the surface is firm. Dogs are on the lead, and the council is unusually direct about it rather than leaving the reserve to a general default. Schedule Two of the Kāpiti Coast Dog Control Bylaw lists the district's inland on-leash areas, and clause 1(f) names “Native bush reserves, including but not limited to Wi Parata Reserve and Russell Reserve”. So this reserve is written into the schedule by name. The schedule's own opening line says dogs must be under continuous leash control at all times in those areas, and clause 6.8 repeats it. We checked the other two schedules as well: Russell Reserve is not in Schedule One's no dog areas and not in Schedule Three's off-leash list, so there is no summer or winter switch and nothing that unlocks it. If Jack needs a run rather than a stroll, the Waikanae River walkway is a few minutes away and the bylaw maps it off-leash, and Greenaway Road Dog Park at Pukekawa Reserve is off-lead as well, though despite the name it is not fenced. The council lists only two securely fenced dog parks in the district, Mazengarb in Paraparaumu and Aotaki Street in Ōtaki, so a fully enclosed run means a drive out of Waikanae. Russell Reserve is the short, shaded, on-the-lead one you use when the dog just needs to get out.
Graded easy, it stays flat overall, and takes about 6 min to walk.
Dogs are allowed here, on the lead. This walk is on the map because Kellie & Jack suggested it, and we checked it against the source above.
