American man missing in isolated national park

A 24-year-old American man has been missing in an isolated part of the Urewera National Park for two nights.

Police are continuing their search today after the man left for a walk from a farmhouse at Maungapohatu, deep in the Ureweras, on Wednesday night and never returned. He was reported missing yesterday afternoon.

The Lowe Walker Rescue helicopter has conducted an aerial search and a ground search team looked for him overnight. Three more search and rescue teams from Wairoa and Gisborne will search through a small patch of farmland surrounded by dense bush today.

The man was travelling with two friends around New Zealand, working on farms in exchange for accommodation and food, Senior Sergeant Tony Bates of Wairoa police said.

The trio had been camping on the side of the road at Lake Waikaremoana on Wednesday when a local farmer offered them a bed and a meal at his farm.

"We have experienced groups of searchers out looking for the man in very rugged and tough terrain. Our concerns are that he has become lost in dense bush that is very close to the farm property," Mr Bates said.

The search was being hampered by light misty rain and low cloud.

Police are trying to contact the man's family in America.

- NZPA