Lake Māhinapua

The West Coast

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Serene Lake Māhinapua lies 10km southwest of Hokitika, screened from SH6 by its surrounding forest. The scenic reserve, gazetted in 1907, has a picnic area and DOC campsite that bask in mountain views, and the shallow water is warm enough for a paddle. There are several short walks (an hour return or less) signposted along the shore.

The starting point of the Mahinapua Walkway is on SH6, 8km south of Hokitika. It's an easy four- to five-hour return walk (6km each way) following an old logging tramway to Woodstock Rimu Rd, with a short spur track connecting to the lake.

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Nearby The West Coast attractions

1. Sunset Point

5.76 MILES

A visit to Sunset Point is a quintessential Hokitika experience: watch the day's light fade away, observe whitebaiters casting nets, munch fish and chips,…

2. Hokitika Museum

6.08 MILES

Housed in the gorgeous, recently strengthened Carnegie Building (1908), this museum has displays on greenstone, gold mining, history and whitebait fishing.

3. Clock Tower

6.17 MILES

Iconic only to West Coast locals, Hokitika's attractive clock tower was unveiled in 1903 to commemorate King Edward VII's coronation and to memorialise…

4. National Kiwi Centre

6.25 MILES

Tiptoe through the darkened kiwi house to watch the birds rummage for tasty insects, or stare a tuatara – a reptile unchanged for 150 million years – in…

5. St Mary's Catholic Church

6.32 MILES

This handsome Catholic church, completed in 1928, could only be admired from the outside when we passed through, due to earthquake-strengthening…

6. Glowworm Dell

7.04 MILES

At nightfall, bring a torch (or grope your way) into this grotto on the northern edge of town, signposted off SH6. The dell is an easy opportunity to…

7. Goldfields Heritage Centre

8.51 MILES

The community-run Goldfields Heritage Centre harks back to Ross's shiny years, with displays and dioramas on gold mining, a scale model of the town, and…

8. Hokitika Gorge

12.48 MILES

Water this turqouise doesn't come easily. Half a million years of glacial movement sculpted Hokitika's ravine; the rock 'flour' ground over millennia…

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