Auckland West: Black Sand & the Waitākere Fringe

Dogs on this trip. Dogs are welcome at Muriwai year-round, but the south-end Otakamiro gannet colony with its clifftop tracks is strictly no-dogs, so keep well clear. Kakamatua Inlet is one of West Auckland's rare beaches where a dog can properly run, though Auckland Council restricts dogs on most beaches 10am–5pm from 1 December to 1 March, so go early or late. This route deliberately avoids the Waitākere Ranges' interior kauri tracks (Piha, Kitekite, Karekare), which are dog-prohibited for kauri dieback, and treats Riverhead Forest as the working plantation it is: dogs are welcome, mind logging traffic, and check for pest-control bait before your dog noses the undergrowth.