Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Whakarewarewa Rainbow
Submitted by Ben Alton
Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Open
Grunt Factor: 65
Gnarl Factor: 17
61.0km
1630m
1630m
543m
Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Submitted by Ben Alton
Last Updated: 21st Sep 2023
Open
Grunt Factor: 65
Gnarl Factor: 17
61.0km
1630m
1630m
543m
Urban fringe
Loop
Undulating, some big hills
Native bush
Plantation/exotic forest
Lakeside
Sealed Road
Farm Road / 4WD Track
Easy Single Track
Moderate Single Track
Average Uphill Gradient: +5.3%
Average Downhill Gradient: -5.3%
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12:00
Slow
9:00
Moderate
6:00
Fast
This is the 6 coloured walking tracks in the whakarewa forest that all start at the visitor centre and run from longest to shortest (black, purple, yellow, green, blue, red). All tracks are marked with coloured arrows and are easy to follow. You can park a car near the start for you very own aid station (the really smart place to park is at the end of longmile road, nearest to the scion gate and the MTB skills park, this way you can pass your aid station of the 3 longest tracks without any deviation form the course (important for the strava crown). Lake Front Road that goes along the edge of the Green lake is currently closed due to access issues with local Iwi but a detour is in place (this gpx file is for the detour)
Lake views and native trees
Easy parking, the gates are no longer locked at night
5 km
9 minutes
Unknown
No
Easy.
Follow the arrows and stick to the trails
Generally good.
Long-sleeved thermal top, Seam-sealed waterproof jacket, Gloves, Beanie/thermal headwear, Whistle, First aid kit, Extra food for emergencies, Cellphone, Map, Headtorch and spare batteries.
There is water at the visitor centre and then at 2 more locations on the black track, you pass a water stop again on purple.
Very well draining soil so mud not really an issue.
There are occasionally trees down on the black track that don't always get cleared as quickly as other tracks
The Good Eastern Taphouse
Tarawera Rounabout, Lynmore
The burgers are great, so is the beer. I highly recommend the Box of Birds
Trail Legend
Fastest Known Times (FKTs)
You and Whakarewarewa Rainbow
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Thanks Ben for submitting this. I wouldn’t have thought of this as an option but it came in real handy today as a substitute mission for the cancelled 2022 Tarawera. It was 100% humidity so a really challenging day but it’s always beautiful to be amongst the redwoods! If you don’t have a mobile aid station (I didn’t), you can refill water at the toilet block 3/4 of the clockwise way round the black track, then at the bottom of the skills area for the purple and yellow tracks. There is a lot of 4wd tracks which was hard work in uncushioned trail shoes, next time I’d go for more cushion
February 12, 2022
These overlap with this trail to some degree. You may wish to combine them but please note that to qualify for FKTs on these runs you should record a separate activity for each.
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