Waterfalls and wooden boardwalks: Accessible hiking trails around the North Island

I’ve never been a tramper, clearly because hiking boots are not my style. Whenever someone tells me they’re doing one of New Zealand’s great walks or staying in a DOC hut over summer, I just can’t relate or see the appeal. I leave a trail of mud everywhere as soon as my wheels touch a tiny bit of dirt, my clothing sleeves get dusty and uneven terrain puts tramping at the bottom of my list of enjoyable activities.

But that all changed when I started discovering some hiking trails around Aotearoa are actually accessible. And once I started finding them, I became addicted going off-road to appreciate the stunning sights, flora and fauna we have in this little country of ours. 

Here’s a list of five walks, trails, paths - or whatever you want to call them! - that I’ve personally done myself over the summer months and have been accessible as a manual wheelchair-user.

Manginangina Kauri Walk, Kerikeri

My friends and I made a pit-stop at Manginangina Kauri Walk during a road trip up North. It’s hidden from the main road, so it really feels like you’re wandering through the forest. The wooden boardwalk loops around some stunning, tall kauri trees and you spend a long time looking up. Despite the wooden fencing, it’s easy to reach over to touch the trees and there’s something really grounding and spiritual doing that.  I love wooden boardwalks compared to bark or gravel paths as there’s way less mud to clean up afterwards. 

Rainbow Falls Walk, Kerikeri

This is the closest I’ve been to the rushes of a waterfall, you can access it so closely that you can feel the flicks of water splash on your skin. The Rainbow Falls walk has three different accessible viewing points of the waterfall - all accessible via a concrete footpath. The last viewing point at the end which is the closest to the top of the waterfall did have a 15cm step to get down (when I went in January 2022), but my friends were able to help me up and down it. 

Gray's Bush Scenic Reserve walk, Gisborne

Gray's Bush Scenic Reserve is lush, well-covered bush walk gives dark, moody Twilight vibes but is worth a quick visit if you’re in Tairawhiti. It’s a very flat forest track, with the footpath made of packed bark. I went on a reasonably dry day, but the ground gave off a soft, damp feel; going when it’s just rained could make a pretty muddy trek through the reserve. My friend and I spent quite a bit of time observing and chasing the wildlife through this track, including a very playful fantail. 

Smiths Bush Path, Tāmaki Makaurau

Smiths Bush Path has a raised wooden boardwalk through Auckland’s North Shore is a hidden gem in my opinion. I went on a Saturday morning and the netball court was noisy and buzzing with teenagers, but you wouldn’t have known this was right next door - except for the distant hum of coaches and soccer mums calling out in the background. There are a few loops of this, from what I can remember, with lots of friendly dogs along the way. I did this with my flatmates and we had so much fun finding mushrooms and all sorts of random plants growing on tree trunks. There was mobility parking right by the entrance and it was super easy to navigate through.

Bridal Veil Falls, Raglan 

I always pop by to visit Bridal Veil Falls whenever I go to Raglan - it’s a must do on my list and helps break up the windy roads for my sensitive, motion-sickness prone tummy. Although the gravelly terrain is probably the roughest ground to navigate in a wheelchair compared to the other walks in this list, it just means you gotta take your time and the view at the end is definitely worth it. There are a couple of accessible viewing points for this waterfall, and if you can manage steps, you can walk right down to the bottom of the waterfall too.