Tokorangi Pa Track, Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest, Rotorua

Last weekend we were in Rotorua for the Ekiden relay race on Saturday, and on Sunday we headed to the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest to check out their off-road running tracks.

Rotorua Ekiden

First of all I’d like to do a little plug for the Rotorua Ekiden – a 6-leg road relay race around Lake Rotorua. The course is virtually the same as the Rotorua Marathon: a total of 42km. Ekiden races originated in Japan and are now run all over the world. I spent three years in Japan and I always attend this event with the New Zealand Japan Society of Auckland (NZJS) and Japan Exchange Teaching Alumni Association of Auckland which have at least three teams per year between them. It’s a fun event with about 250 teams from workplaces, schools, clubs, and of course you can also form a team with your mates. Everyone really gets into the team spirit and supports their runners over the length of the course. Best of all, there is a prize for the team with the best costume, so there are always plenty of outrageously dressed people to look at. Check out their website: http://www.rotoruaekiden.com/. If you’re keen to join our team next year, please let me know!

Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest

At the Ekiden we met up with Tatsuru, a fellow member of NZJS. Since I met Tatsuru about 3 years ago he has started running marathons and also enjoys long distance off-road running. Like me, he’s spent the winter with cold after cold and is keen to get back into some serious training. On Sunday, Tatsuru, Kelvin and I decided to check out the Whakarewarewa Redwood Forest, which is most famous for mountain biking but also has some excellent walking and running tracks.

Tokorangi Pa Track: 11.5km

Starting from the excellent Information Centre at the Redwoods, this track heads north and follows a wide circle through a mix of pine forest, native forest and forestry roads back to the start. It’s easy to follow and well signposted – you just have to follow the purple arrows. We had a map too, which was handy to judge distances and figure out where we were. You can read the track description on the Redwoods website (under ‘Long Walks’). Here’s my version:

Once out of the first flat section through the magnificent redwood forest, there is a very steep climb through native bush. At this point I thought we might have chosen a route that was too hard to run, but we walked up the really steep bits until the track levelled off somewhat at the top and turned into an undulating old forestry road. By the looks of things this road has not been used for some time as many parts are covered in grass. Up here, through the trees you can glimpse awesome views over Rotorua and the lake. We somehow accidentally bypassed the part of the track that goes to the lookout point and ended up on the “Tokorangi skid” - a very steep track/dry river bed down to the Water Tank and roadside – the northernmost point of the track, and about the halfway point. We were disappointed to miss the lookout point, but instead of climbing back up we decided to conserve our energy to run the second half of this track.

The track then follows a forestry road beside a logged hillside which admittedly isn’t very attractive, but then makes a turn into a very pretty native forest patch complete with crystal clear stream of water. Nice!

On the way back to the Information Centre the track continues to alternate between forestry roads and native bush, until you suddenly emerge into a big open space with a big incongruous building and grassy hill with water treatment ponds at the top. This is a waste water treatment facility, according to the sign. From here, it’s all downhill back to the start and you’ll see lots of mountain plenty of mountain bikers heading up to use the mountain biking tracks.

Maps

You'll see from this Redwoods Walking Trail Map that for all of our effort we only covered a tiny part of the whole park! But we thought that was a good chance to explore further, and promised to return to do the Pohaturoa Track (7.5km) and maybe even a track that encircles the whole park. Lucky Rotoruarians, we thought, having all of this just a few minutes drive away from the city centre!

Evaluation

• Distance: 11.5km
  
• Terrain: Difficult and steep at the start but gets easier. I'm glad we walked those initial hills as we were then nicely warmed up and still had the stamina to run most of the rest.
  
• Track type and condition: Lovely, soft pine forest/native forest floor.
• Mud: None to speak of.
• Views: We missed the lookout point which was disappointing. If you do this run let me know if you find it. We did get a nice view over Rotorua and the lake from the tracks at the top though.
• Novelty: For us Aucklanders, very novel!
• Remoteness: Feels like you are in the middle of nowhere. At the water tower end there is a road nearby but apart from that it's just you and nature. Oh, and mountainbikers, although they mostly use different tracks so you don't need to worry about them crashing into you.
  
• Toilets: At the Redwoods Visitor's centre. There's a water fountain there too which is a nice touch.
  
• Crowd factor: We saw quite a few mountain bikers on the way back but there's more than enough space here for everyone.
  
• Watch out for: Steep downward hills, but these are pretty much par for the course on off-road runs, right?
  
• Extra for experts: There are so many trails to choose from - if you've still got energy you could do lots more!

Verdict

The hills make for a challenging middle distance off-road run, but the variety of scenery keeps you interested right until the end.