Upper Ngaruroro River, Central North Island, NZ
We recently completed a trip in January down this amazing section of untouched river that is only accessible on foot. It is occasionaly run by rafters and kayakers who typically charter a plane in from Taupo.
The Ngaruroro begins in the Kaimanawa Ranges, travels through the Kaweka Forest Park and eventually out to the coast between Napier and Hastings. The Kaweka forest has a network of tracks providing access to about 5 places along the river. There are three access roads at different corners of the park. This allows heaps of trip options from 2 days to about 10 days. There are 5 cosy (DOC managed) NZFS huts along the river and many more throughout the park. There are also some great natural hot springs.
The upper river runs through a narrow, steep sided, winding valley, covered with sections of red beech forest and Manuka / Kanuka forest, along with some cool rock outcrops. The upper section, from Boyd hut to Kuripapongo, is about 50kms in length and falls evenly at about 10 m / km (about 50 ft / mile). Guide books have classed the Upper Ngaruroro at Grade 2, however in our opinion there are a few grade 3’s, although all easily portagable.
We completed a 6 day trip including 3 days of tramping followed by 3 days packrafting. We walked in from the Te Puia hot springs road end, up the track beside the Mohaka River (another great trip possibility in itself), up the ridge to Makino hut, South East to Mangaturutu hut, Tira hut and down to Rocks Ahead hut, beside the Ngaruroro river. A longer trip could involve tramping across to Boyd hut instead, giving an extra 2 days on the river.
When we went, the river had recently been in flood. By the time we got to the river, the water was running clear but I think higher than normal, especially for this time of year. They say the top part of the river is too shallow for rafts during late summer, but would be fine for packrafts any time i think.
We had 3 awesome days on the river, each about 4 - 5 hours, including lunch. I’m sure people do it a lot quicker, however we just enjoy cruising. We also scouted and portaged quite a bit as we are beginners, its really remote country, steep river and we had big packs.
Our takeout was at Kuripapongo on the Napier - Taihape road. The trip could have been continued below this, however the river is more technical (there is a grade 4 rapid) and this section is run by commercial rafting operators.
I’d definitely reccomend this trip as a remote wilderness experience (as far as NZ can provide!), where you will hardly see another person, except the occasional hunter. Further reading would be Graham Charles, “NZ White Water”, and Graham Eggar, “North Island Rivers”.
Tim
