Scandrett Regional Park is on Mahurangi Peninsula, part of the wider Matakana Coast. It is one of the 28 Auckland City regional parks. The park includes a working farm, historic house, farm buildings, stunning coastal walks, regenerating forest and a beach, all in a beautiful coastal location.
The park covers Scandretts Bay and its 400-metre beach, and Mullet Point. The historical homestead and farm buildings are next to the beach. Otherwise, the park is mostly paddocks, which slope upwards from the bay to cliffs around the edge of Mullet Point. The point separates Scandretts Bay, which faces northeast, from Martins Bay, which faces east.
The views are amazing as soon as you turn onto Scandrett Road to enter the park. As you drive in, you will see an upper parking area. From there, you can access the tracks that loop around the park and the short Martins Bay Track. Or continue downhill to Scandretts Bay to the main parking area, behind the beach and next to the historical homestead. There is a grassy reserve behind the beach, which is perfect for picnics.
The park contains a significant remnant of coastal forest, as well as areas of regrowth. The natives include pōhutukawa, taraire, kohekohe, tawāpou, māhoe, and kōwhai. The mature pōhutukawa on the southern side of Mullet Point and above Martins Bay are especially gnarled and interesting. Near the historic homestead and farm buildings are younger pōhutukawa and several exotic trees. One of the biggest norfolk pines in New Zealand is notable, having been gifted to the Scandrett family by Sir George Grey, a governor of NZ in the mid-1800s.
The best way to explore the park is on the linked Kawau Bay, Mullet Point and Orchard Tracks, which provide a loop around the coastal edge. The views of Kawau Bay are especially good above the end of Mullet Point and of the Hauraki Gulf from the clifftops above Martins Bay.
Māori called Mullet Point Purahurawai, meaning "the expansive, sparkling waters." The point was adjacent to a highly valued shark fishery known as Moanauriuri. Sharks would be caught in summer, then dried onshore to provide food during winter. The park has several sites of past Māori settlements, including two headland pā.
George Scandrett arrived from Ireland in 1863, purchased the land around the bay and point and started carving out a farm. He was also a boat builder, a useful skill given the availability of lumber in the early days and that boats were vital for access to the outside world at the time.
The historic homestead was the second Scandrett house, the first having burned down. It was built around 1885 from concrete rather than kauri timber. The house and nearby farm buildings were all very close to the beach, providing easy access to boats, which was critical for communication, supplies and selling the farm’s products. Several generations of the Scandrett family farmed the area until it was sold to Auckland City in 1998. The house and the buildings all have panels explaining the interesting family and farm history.
Scandrett Regional Park is 77 km (about a 75-minute drive) from Downtown Auckland. Take the northern motorway to Warkworth, then Sandspit Road, Mahurangi East Road and Martins Bay Road. Approximately 3 km beyond Algies Bay, turn left into Scandrett Road.
Self-contained campervans and caravans can stay overnight in an approved SCC parking area. You can also book one of three bachs at the west end of the bay, and there is a campground at nearby Martins Bay.
