Tūpuna Maunga Authority opens new boardwalk on summit of Mt Eden

A new boardwalk has opened on Auckland's Maungawhau/Mt Eden, promising expansive views of the city. Photo / Tūpuna Maunga Authority

A new boardwalk has opened on the summit of Mt Eden-Maungawhau, promising views across Auckland and preserving the natural environment of the mountain.

The boardwalk’s design offers an insight into what the mountain may have looked like hundreds of years ago, with native plants returned, along with stone quarried and used on Mt Eden Prison.

The boardwalk will help preserve the natural environment of the mountain while accommodating the number of visitors who flock to the summit. Photo / Alex Burton

Auckland’s Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) - an iwi and Auckland Council co-governance entity which manages the city’s mountains - opened an extension to the boardwalk today.

TMA chairman Paul Majurey said the boardwalk would accommodate a large number of visitors while minimising the impact on the mountain. He said more than a million people visited Maungawhau every year, pre-Covid.

A gathering space with native planting has been added, which offers uninterrupted harbour views and a place to eat.

The new plants will attract, protect and provide a habitat for native species like kahukōwhai, the yellow admiral butterfly, and mokomoko (skinks).

A new boardwalk has opened on Auckland's Maungawhau/Mt Eden promising views of the city and native planting which can protect species like the kahukōwhai (yellow admiral butterfly). Photo / Tūpuna Maunga Authority

The TMA worked with mana whenua and design, construction and taiao (natural resource) specialists.

One taiao specialist, Charmaine Baile from Uru Whakaaro, said: “It’s important to be authentic in our selection of ngahere [forest] to return Tūpuna Maunga to their natural state.”

TMA’s Majurey said: “Maungawhau was one of the largest and most important pā in Tāmaki Makaurau and is of immense cultural, spiritual, and historical significance to the 13 iwi and hapū of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau.”

The path to the summit was last upgraded over 13 years ago with aggregate that eventually washed into the crater and led to visitors making their own tracks, adding to the degradation of the area.

Part of the boardwalk opened in 2020 from the road around the north side of the crater to a viewing platform overlooking the city.