Waikanae River Eastern 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). The district default is a lead, at clause 6.3: “The owner shall not allow any dog to enter onto any public place (not designated a dog off-leash area as stipulated in Schedule 3 or 4 of this Bylaw) and remain there without being under continuous leash control.” So off lead here cannot be assumed, it has to be positively named, and both banks of this loop are named. SCHEDULE THREE, Dog off-leash areas, 1(e): “The river bank walkway on the south side of the Waikanae River from the Otaihanga Domain to old State Highway One.” And 1(f): “The river bank walkway on the north side of the Waikanae River from the western edge of Jim Cooke Park to old State Highway One, excluding Edgewater Park (which is a dog on-leash area).” Edgewater Park is then listed in its own right at SCHEDULE TWO, Dog on-leash areas, 1(o). Kellie sent this in as off lead the whole way except the old State Highway 1 carpark and footbridge and Edgewater Park partway down the north side, and the bylaw backs her on all three. One distinction worth being straight about: Edgewater Park is on lead because the bylaw names it, but the carpark and footbridge at the eastern end are on lead by inference rather than by name, because both off-leash designations stop at old State Highway One and clause 6.3 takes over from there. There is a lookalike clause that is easy to trip over. SCHEDULE TWO, 1(m) puts the north bank walkway on lead “from the western edge of Jim Cooke Park to Waikanae Estuary Scientific Reserve”, which reads like a conflict with Schedule Three 1(f) and is not: 1(m) runs west from Jim Cooke Park and 1(f) runs east, and this loop is entirely east. Downstream, the estuary sits outside this bylaw altogether under clause 1.2(c), and clause 13.4 records that DOC’s own Waikanae Scientific Reserve Bylaw “prohibits animals in the Estuary”. That is about three kilometres west of the western end of this loop, so it does not reach here, but it is the one place nearby where a dog is not allowed at all”. 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 Waikanae River Eastern Loop
Waikanae River Eastern Loop covers 3.5 km, near Waikanae in Wellington, walked as a loop.
Three bridges cross the Waikanae River in Waikanae, and between them they make three loops that locals walk without ever thinking of them as tracks. This is the eastern one, from the old State Highway 1 bridge west to the Te Arawai footbridge and back down the other bank, 3.5 km on the flat. Kellie and Jack walk it from Nimmo Avenue East, and you can join it almost anywhere: old State Highway 1 on the south side of the bridge, Karu Crescent, Sunny Glen, Fleetwood Grove, River Glade, Maple Lane, Walnut Grove and Nimmo Avenue East all drop onto it. There is a wide shared path down each side of the river, and then a set of single track diversions running off them. Kellie rates those highly and so would most dogs: they get you off the main line and away from bikes coming past at speed. Horses use the single tracks sometimes, so it is worth knowing your dog will meet one eventually. Dogs are off lead on both banks, and that is the council naming this walkway rather than a default we are leaning on. Two exceptions on the ground. The old State Highway 1 carpark and the footbridge at the eastern end are on lead, because that is where the off-lead designations stop. And on the north bank the path clips the southern edge of Edgewater Park, which the bylaw lists on lead in its own right, so clip the lead on through there and take it off again the other side. It is easy going the whole way, 13 to 27 metres above sea level, gravel and grass, with the river beside you and plenty of places to get down to the water. Kellie says the other two loops are coming, so this page will have company.
Graded easy, it climbs about 27 m overall, and takes about 44 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.
