{"id":393279,"date":"2026-04-23T05:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/393279\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:39:11","slug":"popular-auckland-waterfall-track-to-partially-re-open-following-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/393279\/","title":{"rendered":"Popular Auckland waterfall track to partially re-open following fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Clean<\/p>\n

\nClean up at the Fairy Falls in the Wait\u0101kere Ranges, following a devastating fire on November 2, 2025.
\nPhoto: Supplied via LDR\n<\/p>\n

A popular Auckland track will partially re-open to the public this weekend, after a fire ripped through the area last year.<\/p>\n

Fairy Falls tracks in the Wait\u0101kere Ranges suffered significant damage from a fire last November<\/a>, destroying a large platform near a popular swimming hole, 80 metres of stairs and a bridge that crossed the waterfall.<\/p>\n

Firefighters had to hike 25 minutes into the track to reach the blaze, which scorched an area about 150 by 75 metres – larger than a football field or three Olympic-sized swimming pools laid end to end.<\/p>\n

The fire was believed to have been caused by an overnight fire that was not properly extinguished.<\/p>\n

Auckland Council regional parks principal ranger David Markham said work has been underway in the area, and a section of the tracks will re-open on Saturday (25 April).<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Visitors will be able to return to the top of the waterfalls and enjoy the viewpoint, however access to the waterfalls and swimming hole will remain closed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Markham said they were working to restore access to the swimming hole as soon as it is realistically possible.<\/p>\n

“In the meantime, we hope that people will enjoy being able to return to see the falls and allow us to continue meeting conservation goals in this area,” Markham said.<\/p>\n

The closed section would need to meet the kauri safe requirements before it re-opened, he said.<\/p>\n

He warned of a complete closure of the entire track if visitors did not stay away from the closed parts of the track.<\/p>\n

“It is important for people to follow the signage and keep to the section of track that is open.<\/p>\n

“A complete closure may be required to protect the forest and maintain safety, if visitors don’t respect the ongoing closure of the lower track.”<\/p>\n

The fire occurred just over a year after the track re-opened.<\/p>\n

Before that, it was closed for six years to prevent the spread of kauri dieback disease through the ranges, with ratepayers forking out $1.6 million for its renewal.<\/p>\n

Markham said the cost of fire damage to the Fairy Falls track was currently estimated at $690,000.<\/p>\n

“Some impacts cannot be assessed in monetary terms, like the immediate impact on the health of ancient kauri trees and flora within this section of the forest.”<\/p>\n

\"Clean<\/p>\n

\nClean up at the Fairy Falls in the Wait\u0101kere Ranges, following a devastating fire on November 2, 2025.
\nPhoto: Supplied via LDR\n<\/p>\n

He said an ongoing challenge was the need to prioritise projects that also require significant funding.<\/p>\n

“We are undertaking several major renewals this year to restore a few tracks that have remained closed since 2023 due to impacts from the severe weather events.”<\/p>\n

Henderson Massey councillor Shane Henderson welcomed the partial re-opening of a popular track.<\/p>\n

“The more we can open up safely is fantastic news for people in the city that like to hike at the ranges. A lot of hard work has been taken to get tracks open back up,” Henderson said.<\/p>\n

He reiterated the restriction advisory, and that council would close the whole track if rules weren’t followed.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully it won’t come to that. Rules are there for our environmental protection, let’s be good custodians of the rangers for the future generation.<\/p>\n

“Don’t ruin it for everybody else.”<\/p>\n

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clean up at the Fairy Falls in the Wait\u0101kere Ranges, following a devastating fire on November 2, 2025.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-393279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}