Parapara peak track

The Parapara Peak track is a DOC maintained track that starts at the small parking with the DOC signpost and goes all the way to the Parapara Peak summit.
It is quite a long track, 18 km return, and not so easy mainly because of the river section that I will describe in a bit.

When getting to the start of the track there is an area that looks like the car park but if we continue further we get to the real car park. We know we have arrived because the road ends there. We can see the DOC signpost indicating "Parapara Peak track" and also we are next to the river.

The hike starts by crossing the Pariwhakaoho river. The river at this spot is not so wide but I couldn't find enough rocks to safely cross it without getting wet. Because of this I highly recommend that you take your boots and socks off and this way make sure your feet are dry for the rest of the long hike.

For the first kilometre or so we are on farmland and then we get to the forest. A few minutes into the forest we get to a small river that is enclosed between steep hills. I found this part to be the most challenging section of the track. For about 100 or 200 meters you are going up the river, crossing left to right and right to left several times. The rocks are very slippery and therefore we should walk with extra care. I'm not sure I want to be walking this track on rainy days. A lot of water could be coming down and this section can get a lot more dangerous since there is no escape.

Once we get out of the river we will be walking most of the time inside the forest. We will get out of the forest only one and a half kilometres from the summit. Inside the forest there are a few ups and downs but mostly up. The first part has a few sections that are a bit more narrow or steeper and then it gets better.
At about 4.5 Km we find a very steep section that ends in a small flat area with a wooden green signpost and the words "PARA PARA PEAK TRACK". We have reached halfway through the track.

Three kilometres further on the track and after a few more ups and downs we get out of the forest. From this point we can already see the ridge and Parapara Peak summit far in the distance (1.5 Km). The summit ridge includes three other unnamed high points that are actually higher than Parapara Peak. Traversing these other summits is not hard or difficult, we just follow the track where we will find a few rocks here and there and we do a bit of up-and-down walking. This section is actually quite enjoyable because of the views.
To get to Parapara Peak summit first we have to descend a bit and then go up the final few meters. At the summit there is a trig point. The views from the top are magnificent. We could see all the way to Farewell Spit.

After enjoying the views and eating something we go back following the same track we took to come up.

The track is well-marked with the standard orange triangles from DOC. I got off track only a couple of times where I had to walk back a few steps to the closest orange marker.
In summary, a great track, with magnificent views from the top, but not an easy one due to some steep sections and the few meters inside the river that could be fun or dangerous depending on the conditions.



Full description and more pictures at Back from Summit: Parapara Peak