Directions

From State Highway 67 to Karamea, turn right on to the Wangapeka Road, immediately after the bridge over the Little Wanganui River - drive inland for five kilometres on Wangapeka Road to the carpark where the track begins.

Public transport
Check with either the Westport I-Site or the Karamea Information Centre for services to this track.

Wangapeka Track

If the Heaphy is too ‘popular’ for you, you’ll love this track!

The Wangapeka track traverses the Southern Alps from the This is a track for experienced, self sufficient walkers. The huts rely on coal fires for warmth and cooking, and it is advisable to carry your own stove and fuel. There are many unbridged river and creek crossings, which may require a high level of experience to cross safely, or which may stop the walker entirely until conditions improve. You may well be the only person walking the track, so carrying a personal locator beacon is a wise precaution. Weather conditions can be extreme.

The Wangapeka Track cuts through the Kahurangi National Park from the Waimea Basin in the east to the West Coast near Karamea. It crosses two saddles of over 1000 metres and goes through the beautiful  beech forested valleys of the Wangapeka, Karamea, Taipo and Little Wanganui rivers.

For hunter/gatherer types (those who like hunting and fishing) this is a paradise, offering the clearest water you’re ever likely to see.  This is because there is no farming or human land intervention along the course of the Wangapeka River.

The Wangapeka can be walked in conjunction with the Leslie–Karamea Track to link with the Mt A rthur Tablelands (although a greater level of experience and fitness is required for the Leslie–Karamea Track), or combined with the Heaphy Track to create a Nelson–West Coast or vice versa round trip.