Rimutaka Forest Park Trust Home

Welcome!

Rimutaka Forest Park is a beautiful area of mostly native forest in the hills between the Hutt Valley and Western Wairarapa, encompassing the Rimutaka Ranges and the headwaters of the ainuiomata and Orongorongo Rivers, east of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington.

It is characterised by steep, bush-clad hills and narrow fern-filled valleys cut by abundant freshwater creeks and streams.

Throughout the park, there are many well-formed and signposted walking tracks appealing to bushwalkers of almost every age and state of fitness.

The park is easily accessed by road from Wellington or Lower Hutt. Simply take the hill road to Wainuiomata and follow all the signs to the Coast Road/ Rimutaka Forest Park and then turn left at the Catchpool Stream access road into the Park. (See Map)

The Rimutaka Forest Park Charitable Trust is committed to preserve and restore the natural and historic resources of the Rimutaka Forest Park valleys and environs... (More)

It has been active in bringing about many improvements to the Park and the Catchpool Stream picnic area and camping grounds.

Our "Restore the Dawn Chorus" project is now in its 8th year and our "Kiwi Project" has produced three beautiful baby kiwi chicks!

Rocks and pool at Graces Stream alongside the Old Five Mile Track

Rock pool at Graces Stream near the Old Five Mile Track Loop. (Photo credit: Peter Cooper)

Kiwi Aversion Training for Dogs - Taranaki Kiwi Trust
Saturday 6th September, Lake Mangamahoe, 4 kms south of New Plymouth. $25 per dog. (More..)

Volunteers Needed!

Dawn Chorus Project

Help protect our native wildlife and plants and keep fit doing so! We need some additional volunteers for our Rimutaka Forest Park Dawn Chorus Project. (More...)

Writer/PR Person(s)

Are you interested in conservation, regional tourism development, and working with a great bunch of volunteers? Have a background or experience in journalism or public relations?

If so, we are looking for a couple of volunteers to help us keep the community engaged and the media informed on what is happening in the Rimutaka Forest Park, with the Trust, our Kiwi Project - and anything else of interest that may be happening. (More...)

Download the latest Rimutaka Forest Park Trust Newsletter ("The Rag") for July 2007 (Adobe .pdf format - 3.1mb)

Phil Waddington enjoying himself at the Stoat Trappers' Ball

The inventor of many of our stoat traps, Phil Waddington, is shown here having fun at the RFPT Stoat Trappers' Ball. Photo credit: Margaret Willard

The Stoat Trappers' Ball

The hall was packed with dancers and revellers at the inaugural Stoat Trappers' Ball held last Saturday at the Wainuiomata RSA. The barn-dance featuring "The Jimmies", Wellington's best-known Celtic band, was a fund-raiser for the Rimutaka Forest Park Trust and raised nearly a thousand dollars for the charitable trust, but more importantly, it helped to increase public awareness of the Trust's conservation and restoration activities in the Park. (More...)

The Jimmies, one of Wellington's best known Celtic and Barn-Dance bands, are shown performing here at the Stoat Trappers' Ball

The Jimmies, a lively and talented Wellington band, kept the dancers breathless and dizzy, but grinning from ear to ear, with their rollicking folk dances and traditional tunes.
Photo credit: Peter Cooper

Full year of our pest monitoring cycle completed this week

Pest monitoring team on their way to the tracking tunnels along the McKerrow Track

Sean, David and Ropati, on the McKerrow Track, about to head off on their pest monitoring run in the Rimutaka Forest Park. Sean is an ecology student at Victoria University while David and Ropati both work at AMP.
Photo credit: Peter Cooper

It is a year now since we initially deployed our Black Trakka pest monitoring tunnels in the Rimutaka Forest Park. Project coordinator, Sean Crossland, will report the full year's results and analysis at our next Kiwi Project meeting to be held in September. When this occurs, we will share our findings with you in a newly created section on this website.

The tunnel network helps us to assess the number and types of pests (and other creatures, such as wetas and insects) that share the habitat with our recently released North Island Brown Kiwi.

What's hidden down there in that deep, dark burrow?

Read all about Alan Thompson's Kiwi Spy device here: