Warkworth sits on the Mahurangi River in the northern part of the Auckland region. It is 64 km north of Auckland Downtown and takes 45 minutes on the motorway. It is the gateway to the Mahurangi region and the largest town on the Matakana Coast. Mahurangi Regional Park West is a 19 km, 20-minute drive south on the Twin Coast Highway, then Matakana West Road.
The town has an excellent array of services and eateries, with a town centre that mostly speaks to its rather English name. It is worth pausing in the centre and checking out the short Mahurangi River walk that connects with Lucy Moore Memorial Park. A low waterfall is at the west end of the walk, below the main highway bridge. The path heads east along the river behind the town's main street shops. There are grassy reserve areas and seating, a wharf with several boats, and nice river views. You can take a boat trip along the river to the harbour or rent a kayak.
The park is at the far eastern end of the walk. The path continues through the park, past the water treatment station, and then follows a small section of forest on the mangrove-lined river edge to end at Rivendell Place. A small point juts into the river that you may notice in the park, west of the water treatment station. This has some exotic oak trees and is perfect for a quiet break. The total walk is about 1.5 km each way, and you can return through the town streets to check out the shops and eateries.
You can also access the river by the historic Wilsons Cement Works ruins on Wilson Road, east of the town. There is also a marina, a water-filled old limestone quarry, and green space for picnics. It’s not your everyday tourist spot, but it is interesting.
Māori have settled the Mahurangi region since the 13th century. The Mahurangi River (Waihē to local Māori) was navigable until the waterfall, about 6 km from Mahurangi Harbour. The area near the falls was surrounded by kauri forest, and Māori called it Puhinui. The name probably referred to the large eels in the river, but it also means big plume and may be a reference to the waterfall. The area was also a source of wood for making waka and other seasonal supplies.
In the 1820s, the hapū around the river and harbour, Ngāti Rongo, Ngāti Kā and Ngāti Raupō, were forced out during the Musket Wars when Ngāpuhi invaded the region. The hapū returned before and after the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840. However, their rights were impacted by the Mahurangi Purchase of 1841, and they were not compensated until the 1850s, with the restoration of 18,000 acres south of Warkworth in Hemara’s Reserve.
This disruption did not prevent trade with Europeans, and the first European settler, John Anderson Brown, squatted at Puhinui and established a dam and timber mill in 1844. This became known as Browns Mill. The town was founded in 1853 by Brown, who bought land after the Ngāti Rongu claims were resolved. He chose the name of a town he liked in England - Warkworth in Northumberland. The streets were named after villages near Warkworth (England) and significant Northumbrian families. Upper Mahurangi was also commonly used as the name until the 1870s.
In 1884, Warkworth became the centre for the Wilsons Cement Works, located on the river east of the town and now a historic ruin. By the 1930s, as road improvements occurred, the town became a commercial and service hub for the surrounding rural area. Today, the town is expanding rapidly, and is a hub for the significant visitor trade around Mahurangi and the wider region.
