Whananaki Coastal TrackBeginner
Submitted by Chris Taylor
Front country - easily accessible
Out and Back
Undulating, small hills only
Plantation/exotic forestBeachCoastal
Beginner
2:00 (Slow)
1:10 (Moderate)
0:50 (Fast)
-9.8%
+10.1%
Fastest Known Times (FKTs)
Please set your gender to see your position on the FKT leaderboards.
Men
Women
Filter FKTs
The more , the harder the FKT will be to beat. Learn about Fastest Known Times.
Description
Feb 2021: Access to Bougainville Memorial is now only possible from the beach. Landowner has removed access and signs at the stile now are changed to "Private No Access".
Starting from McAuslin Road, jump over the stile and follow the track. The track goes over private land so please stick to the gravel road / farm track and leave gates as you find them. Follow this track for about 4.3 kms when you reach another stile where the track forks. Turn right and follow signposts to the Bougainville Memorial.
From the Bougainville Memorial, provided the tide is not too high, you can head down the hill towards the white sands of the beach, hopping over some rocks. Head north along the beach to the point where you can pick the track back up (where Pukekawa Road meets the beach). From that point, start heading back south along the track. However, if the tide is too high, from the Bougainville Memorial retrace your steps back to the stile mentioned earlier and take the other track to the point that Pukekawa Road meets the beach in order to access the beach at the north of this run and return the same way.
Trail Community
Features of interest
Great views of the coast with a couple of opportunities to access the coast and go for a cooling swim.
Make Up of Run
Untracked / Route only: 10%
Technical Single Track: 10%
Moderate Single Track: 10%
Easy Single Track: 10%
Farm Road / 4WD Track: 20%
Gravel Road: 40%
Route Data
Reviews:
Photos:
Your Trail Wishlist
All the runs that are on your To Do list (no limit).
Add to wishlist view wishlistWild Explorers
I did it!-
Access
Trail head at McAuslin Road near Sandy Bay. Travelling from Whangarei (for slightly longer but more scenic route) take Ngunguru Road and follow all the way to the coast. This road turns into Matapouri Road just past Ngunguru. Continue on Matapouri Road all the way through to Sandy Bay and look for McAuslin Road on right just as Matapouri Road heads inland away from the coast.
Some parking at trail head. Otherwise park in Sandy Bay beach carpark and can include the McAuslin Road as part of the run.
24 km
29 minutes
No
No
-
Staying Safe
Easy.
Hard to go wrong. Follow the track / road and orange markers.
Patchy.
First aid kit, Cellphone.
Take your own
none
Livestock in paddocks - treat with respect.
-
Post run indulgence
Salt Air Cafe
Ngunguru
https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/Restaurant_Review-g1747761-d3219620-Reviews-Salt_Air_Cafe-Northland_Region_North_Island.html
Nice cold drinks, pies and pumpkin Soup -
Sponsor this trail