Cycle, ride or walk through Katikati’s new park

Waitekohekohe Recreational Park has officially opened.

The Waitekohekohe Recreational Park located on Thompsons Track, Katikati officially opens this weekend, six years after a concept for a park comprising horse riding, mountain bike trails and bush walks was initially proposed.

The park is a council-owned reserve in the upper hill slope catchments of the Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park covering an area of 87.982 hectares, including an estimated five kilometres of the main Waitekohe Stream margins.

In 2017, the previously leased forestry block returned to council ownership at the same time local horse riders were looking for alternative spaces for horse riding. Katch Katikati manager Jacqui Knight called a public meeting to gauge interest in building horse trails in the forestry block.

“We had about 80 people attend and half of them were mountain bikers. From this meeting, we formed a small committee to start making plans,” says Jacqui.

These plans were eventually adopted into the Western Bay of Plenty District Council Long Term Plan, which came into effect in 2021 when funding to start the development of the reserve was also available.

The development to date includes five mountain bike tracks, an equestrian area where existing forestry tracks have been cleared and new trails created, offering about two hours of riding, along with a jumping alley and galloping track. The mountain bike carpark at 360 Thompsons Track is complete and awaits a toilet and weather shelter, while the equestrian car park at 252 Thompsons Track is finished and includes a toilet, corrals, weather shelter and a wash-down station.

An equestrian area has also been developed, and trails offer a few hours of riding.

Future plans for Waitekohekohe Recreational Park include building more mountain bike tracks and an additional equestrian track on the Lund Road side through the pines.

The feedback for this new and exciting development for Katikati has been extremely positive.

“There aren’t many horse riding places in the district, and we’ve heard people will be travelling from out of town to make use of the park,” says Jacqui. “The mountain bike tracks offer about an hour of riding on exceptionally good tracks.”

Dog walkers are also catered for, with many of the reserve tracks available for walkers and dogs under control.

The Details:

What: Official public opening of Waitekohekohe Recreational Park

Where: 252 Thompsons Track, Katikati

When: March 4, 10am