State Highway 12 takes you directly through Waipoua Forest, which is thick with large kauri. The road is windy and has limited stopping options, but even from the car, you get a real sense of the scale of the trees and the forest. There are obvious and separate car parks for the tracks to Te Matua Ngahere and Tāne Mahuta.
Tāne Mahuta is only a five-minute walk and is always popular. Te Matua Ngahere takes about 40 minutes but has the advantage of an extended walk amongst many giant trees, resulting in a superb experience. You can also access the campground on Waipoua River Road, off State Highway 12.
There are other trails in the forest, but they are presently closed due to kauri dieback risks.
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