Hakarimata Range

Although now usually applied to the hills immediately west of Ngāruawāhia,{{Cite web|url=https://www.topomap.co.nz/NZTopoMap/nz372/HAKARIMATA-RANGE/|title=HAKARIMATA RANGE, Waikato|website=NZ Topo Map|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} maps such as Hochstetter's of 1859,{{Cite web|url=https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/maps/id/548|title=The southern part of the Province of Auckland showing the routes and surveys by Ferdinand von Hochstetter, 1859|website=Kura Heritage Collections Online (Auckland Libraries)|access-date=2024-12-09}} the 1925 geology map{{Cite web|url=http://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE1268048|title=Geological map of Newcastle survey district /drawn by G.E. Harris.|date=1925|website=ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}} and 1944 one inch map show 'Hakarimata Range' as extending south to what is now SH23.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mapspast.org.nz/?zoom=14&x=1780290&y=5820218&layerid=NZMS1%201959|title=Sheet N056|website=www.mapspast.org.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}} Similarly, old accounts describe the Whatawhata-Raglan road as passing over the Hakarimatas.{{cite news|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19300412.2.19|title=NEW ZEALAND HERALD, WESTERN COASTLANDS. AN OLD COACH JOURNEY. MODERN ROADS FOLLOW.|date=12 April 1930|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}}

Hakarimata's name derives from a 17th-century feast, when Ngāti Maniapoto joined the local Waikatos to celebrate the birth of a child. There was a mountain of raw forest foods; hence the name Hākari-kai-mata (uncooked food mountain), condensed to Hakarimata.{{cite news|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19210924.2.132.5|title=NGARUAWAHIA. NEW ZEALAND HERALD|date=24 Sep 1921|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}}

Hakarimata is part of the roughly north - south Kawhia Syncline (Taupiri to the north, Kapamahunga to the south), though the Hakarimata Anticline is at about a 30° angle to the rest of the syncline, probably due to strike slip movement along the Waipa Fault,{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328899248|title=How tectonic geomorphology can be used to find a hidden fault zone: A case study of the Te Tatua o Wairere Fault Zone, New Zealand.|last=F. Spinardi V. G. Moon, A. Pittari, W. P. de Lange|date=Nov 2018}} Late Triassic Newcastle Group,{{Cite web|url=http://www.gns.cri.nz/static/qmapdata/newmaps/QWaikato.zip|title=Geology of the Waikato area 1:250 000 geological map 4|last=Edbrooke|first=S. W.|date=2005|website=Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences|access-date=2019-01-07|archive-date=2018-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721043747/https://www.gns.cri.nz/static/qmapdata/newmaps/QWaikato.zip|url-status=dead}} sandstones, siltstones and greywacke have been folded, faulted and covered by other sedimentary rocks to form the Hakarimatas.

File:Pukatea on Hakarimata.jpg

Hakarimata is the largest remnant of broadleaf-podocarp lowland forest that once dominated the Waikato. It is near the southern limit of kauri forest and northern limit of beech forest, with plants and animals of all three forest types. Occasional large rata and rimu stand above the canopy of tawa, kohekohe, hinau, rewarewa, mangeao and pukatea. There are also some miro, Hall's totara and tanekaha. The reserve also contains several threatened plants including Alseuosmia quercifolia, or topara, which is strongly scented in spring.

Tūī, kererū, pīwakawaka, pīpīwharauroa, kārearea, pekapeka, copper skink, Auckland green gecko{{Cite web|url=https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/assets/WRC/Services/publications/technical-reports/2017/TR201736.pdf|title=Technical Report 2017/36 Significant natural areas of the Waikato District: terrestrial and wetland ecosystems|website=Waikato Regional Council}} and peripatus are among the species in the bush. 16 species of native fish include short and longfinned eels and banded, short-jaw and giant, kōkopu. In 1995/96, to connect the Hakarimata tree canopy with the Waikato River, and thus encourage indigenous fish, three Waikato tributaries had {{Convert|12|km||abbr=on}} of fences, 12 stock-water troughs, 5 bridges, and over 10,000 trees and shrubs added. By 2003, fish had increased from 63 to 80 fish per {{Convert|150|m||abbr=on}} of stream and a new species, lamprey, was found.{{Cite web|url=https://www.niwa.co.nz/publications/wa/vol11-no4-december-2003/does-stream-restoration-work|title=Does stream restoration work?|last1=Richardson|first1=Jody|last2=Hamilton|first2=Jacques Boubée|date=2003-12-01|website=NIWA|language=en|access-date=2019-01-06}}

Since the land was reserved (from 1905 onwards), the fringe areas and lower slopes have slowly regenerated after suffering light logging, fires, pigs, goats, possums, cats, hedgehogs, rats, mice, stoats, weasels and ferrets, with occasional deer and wallaby. Goats, possum and rats are controlled, with possum self-resetting traps trialled in 2011.{{Cite web|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2011/new-possum-traps-enter-phase-ii-of-doc-testing/|title=New possum traps enter Phase II of DOC testing|website=Department of Conservation|language=en-nz|access-date=2019-01-06}} About {{Convert|200|ha||abbr=on}} of privately owned forest adjoin the reserve, some of which is protected by covenant. Kauri dieback disease is not present, so a boot cleaning station was put at the Huntly end in 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-releases/2015/fighting-kauri-dieback-in-the-waikato/|title=Fighting kauri dieback in the Waikato|website=Department of Conservation|language=en-nz|access-date=2019-01-06}}

Fire is also a threat. In 2017 an area of 600 by 300m on a ridge beside the quarry was burnt.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/88551910/fire-threatens-native-bush-in-ngaruawahia|title=Operations cease at Ngaruawahia bush fire|website=Stuff|date=18 January 2017 |language=en|access-date=2019-01-06}}

The large quarry at 181 Waingaro Road, Ngāruawāhia,{{Cite web|url=https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/assets/WRC/Council/Policy-and-Plans/HR/Submissions/Submission-to-Proposed-Plan-Change-1-Fulton-Hogan-Limited.pdf|title=Submission to Proposed Plan Change 1 Fulton Hogan Limited|date=8 March 2017}} opened in a quarry reserve{{cite news|url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19230423.2.154|title=NGARUAWAHIA'S WATER, NEW ZEALAND HERALD|date=23 Apr 1923|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}} in 1948 and now goes well below sea-level.{{Cite web|url=https://ioqnz.co.nz/2005/04/huntly-ngaruawahia-field-trip-a-big-success/|title=HUNTLY & NGARUAWAHIA FIELD TRIP A BIG SUCCESS|date=2005-04-29|website=Institute of Quarrying|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-07}} It was bought by Brian Perry Ltd in the 1980s{{Cite web|url=http://www.perry.co.nz/history/|title=History - Perry Investment Management Ltd|website=www.perry.co.nz|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} and sold to Fulton Hogan in 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://www.perryresources.co.nz/|title=Perry Resources|website=www.perryresources.co.nz|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.fultonhogan.com/fulton-hogan-welcomes-waikato-quarries-employees/|title=Fulton Hogan welcomes Waikato Quarries employees|date=2016-05-04|work=Fulton Hogan|access-date=2018-11-06|language=en-US}} An extension which would have doubled the size of the quarry{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/187684/Concerns-over-Ngaruawahia-quarry-plans|title=Concerns over Ngaruawahia quarry plans|date=18 Feb 2009|website=Stuff|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}} wasn't permitted in 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.qualityplanning.org.nz/sites/default/files/PDF-7-Perry-Resources1.pdf|title=Waingaro Road Quarry 2008 Consent Compliance Plan}}{{Cite web|url=http://maps.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/IntraMaps90/?project=Waikato&configId=b2549ae1-f643-4ac6-9586-211ba985dd8f|title=IntraMaps|website=maps.waikatodistrict.govt.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}} It would have taken native trees estimated to be 800 years old. The quarry then employed 13 and supplied about 35% of the area's needs. Environment Waikato granted Perry Aggregates resource consents in 2009,{{Cite web|url=https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/whats-happening/news/media-releases-archived/environment-waikato-approves-ngaruawahia-quarry-consents/|title=Environment Waikato approves Ngaruawahia quarry consents|date=17 Jul 2007|website=Waikato Regional Council|language=en-NZ|access-date=2019-01-07}} following which bait stations were put in the area in 2011{{Cite web|url=https://www.waikatoindependent.co.nz/2011/05/native-birds-boost-pests-targeted/1555/|title=Native birds get boost as pests targeted – The Waikato Independent|date=31 May 2011|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-07}} and the quarry was given Mimico Environmental Awards for that{{Cite web|url=https://ioqnz.co.nz/2011/07/2011-aqa-mimico-environmental-award/|title=2011 AQA Mimico Environmental Award|date=2011-07-12|website=Institute of Quarrying|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-07}} and, in 2018, for extending native fish passage.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mimico.co.nz/news/2018-mimico-environmental-award-winners/|title=2018 MIMICO Environmental Award Winners|website=Mimico New Zealand|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}

File:Tomokanga at Ngāruawāhia.jpg

The range has been used for recreational rambling since at least 1892.{{Cite web|title=The Freetrader left Hamilton WAIKATO TIMES|url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18921110.2.8|date=10 Nov 1892|website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz|access-date=2020-05-03}}

There are two main walkways through the range, allowing excellent views of the Waikato Plains below. The main one is Hakarimata Walkway (12 km, 7 hr 30 min) along the ridge from Parker Road at the northern end to the Hakarimata Rail Trail (off Waingaro Rd) at the south.

Te Araroa follows that walkway to the summit,{{Cite web|url=https://www.teararoa.org.nz/waikato/waikato/|title=Hakarimata Walkway|website=www.teararoa.org.nz|access-date=2019-01-06}} where a viewing tower offers vistas towards the coast, across the Waikato Basin and to Ruapehu on a clear day. Te Aroroa drops from the summit by the other main walkway, Hakarimata Summit Track (2 km, 3 hr return, 335 metres on 1349 steps), to Brownlee Avenue in Ngāruawāhia. The steps had 140,000 visits in 2016, compared to 5000 in 2011, shortly after they opened.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/86686608/hakarimata-steps-lead-the-way-for-smalltown-new-zealand-growth|title=Hakarimata steps lead the way for small-town New Zealand growth|website=Stuff|date=23 November 2016 |language=en|access-date=2019-01-06}} The remainder of the track south to Hakarimata Rail Trail (3.5 km, 2 hr) can be linked by a 1.8 km walk along Waingaro Road back to Brownlee Ave.

There are several shorter walks using parts of the Hakarimata Walkway and/or the Summit Track:-

• At the northern end, Kauri Loop Track (3 km, 2 hr return for full loop; 40 min to kauri grove) from Parker Road car park starts with a long flight of steps to one of the largest kauris in Waikato, {{Convert|7|m||abbr=on}} girth and {{Convert|36.7|m||abbr=on}} high,{{Cite web|url=https://register.notabletrees.org.nz/tree/view/1330|title=The New Zealand Tree Register|website=register.notabletrees.org.nz|access-date=2019-01-07}} estimated to be over a thousand years old. The Southern Lookout has views of Huntly and the north Waikato lakes, Hamilton and Tongariro on a clear day.
• In the middle, Waterworks Walk (1 km, 1 hr return) from Brownlee Avenue runs beside Mangarata Stream to the 1922 reservoir, once Ngāruawāhia's water supply. In November 2016 a Tomokanga (archway){{Cite web|url=https://www.waikatodistrict.govt.nz/news/media-releases/article/2016/11/20/tomokanga-unveiled-at-base-of-hakarimata-track|title=Tomokanga unveiled at base of Hakarimata Track|website=Waikato District Council|language=en-nz|access-date=2019-01-06}} was added near the beginning of the walk.
• At the southern end, Hakarimata Rail Trail (1.5 km, 30 min) follows the former Glen Massey railway. A short extension leads to the Cascades.

File:Cascades on Hakarimata.jpg|Cascades at the foot of the ascent to the summit from the south

File:Mangarata Stream waterfall, Hakarimata.jpg|Mangarata Stream waterfall, just above the reservoir

File:Waikato basin from Hakarimata Summit.jpg|Ngāruawāhia, Waikato basin and Kaimais from Hakarimata Summit

File:Steps on Summit Track, Hakarimata.jpg|Some of the 1349 steps on the Summit Track

File:Mangarata Dam, Ngaruawahia Waterworks.jpg|Mangarata Dam spillway. Parataniwha is common in the valleys.

File:Hakarimata kauri tree.jpg|The platform is to protect the big tree from kauri dieback

File:Waikato River from Hakarimata.jpg|Huntly and Waikato River from Northern Lookout

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.huntly.net.nz/hakarimatawalkway.html Photographs and further details]
• [https://www.flickr.com/photos/semmytrailer/28777226528/ Photo of quarry]

Category:Mountain ranges of Waikato

Category:Waikato District