Instead, until an alternative route is found, Te Araroa hikers have to walk 10km along Matapōuri Rd, which has no footpath, minimal shoulders and dozens of blind corners.
Te Araroa chief executive Mark Weatherall said a landowner had chosen to restrict access to her property, which was her right.
While the affected section of trail was relatively short there was no simple detour so the entire Matapōuri-Ngunguru leg of Te Araroa had to be re-routed.
''It's a shame, it was a beautiful walk, and almost all through native bush. But that's the risk we run, especially on private land where access is an ongoing challenge.''
Weatherall said the Te Araroa Trust had been talking to the landowner about working with her on a native forest regeneration project after a pine plantation was felled.
The landowner had raised concerns about hikers not sticking to the trail and spreading weeds where she was trying to replant the forest.
The trust was working on an alternative route which would still involve road walking, ''but it definitely won't be on Matapōuri Rd, it's too dangerous''.
The new route would be ready by the time the new walking season started on October 1.
Landowner Silvia Pinca, who runs a naturopathy centre, said the previous owner had allowed the trail through the property but at that time it was pine forest. In any case, he lived in Australia so didn't care much.
Pinca said she had tried to reach an agreement with the Te Araroa Trust before asking them to put the trail somewhere else.
The land was undergoing major ecological restoration and she had spent six months clearing invasive weeds. Walkers were a major vector of weeds, she said.
''That's why I'm not interested in having thousands of walkers going through this land. The previous owner was very kind to let people through his property. It's not a duty of a private landowner,'' Pinca said.
''In future people will enjoy going through this land again but right now it is a horrible, destructed site where people could step on young trees which I have just planted.''
She said walkers did not respect the trail, kauri dieback hygiene stations or private property, and continued to come onto her land despite four signs at the gate.
''I have been verbally aggressed by people on my land. I've had to ask foreign walkers to leave during lockdown. This land that I'm restoring will be a protected sanctuary with a covenant, so I'm doing it for the people, for nature.''
Pinca's business website still states that her land is located ''along the path of the Te Araroa trail''.
A Matapōuri resident, who did not wish to be named, contacted the Northern Advocate about the closure.
She said the affected section of track had been established more than 10 years ago and was popular with locals as well as through-hikers. She was also worried about people walking on Matapōuri Rd.
''Sending walkers on this route is an accident waiting to happen,'' she said.
Meanwhile, a drastic drop in the number of overseas hikers using Te Araroa is expected this summer due to the Covid-19 crisis.
However, the lack of crowds could encourage more Kiwis to try the trail, Weatherall said.
Overseas hikers generally walked the entire 3000km in one go but Kiwis were more likely to walk one section at a time with the goal of completing the trail over their lifetimes.
