Mount Kaukau, popular hiking spots in Wellington

Mount Kaukau is the most visible high point in the Wellington landscape and very popular among hikers. The summit is 445 metres above sea level, can track for about 1hours up to reach the summit. This can be visited within the day. On sunny day, you can see the view of Wellington city, the stadium, the port, the train station, Wellington University, Pipitea campus; and at another side we could see the Makara Windfarms along the coast within eyesights. On top of the mountain, we could see Wellington's main television transmitter tower. The mountain is located above Khandallah park and Johnsonville. It is a

good place to clear our head!

Viewing the city of Wellington from Mount Kaukau summit (Photo: LG Sophia_20)

Entrance and exit points 

According to Wellington City Council, tracks up to Mount Kaukau either begin at Woodmancote Road & Simla Crescent in Khandallah, Sirsi Terrace in Broadmeadows, and Truscott Avenue in Johnsonville. Please note that Khandallah Park is one of the oldest parks in New Zealand, established since 1888. Khandallah Park covers more than 60 hectares of native forest with the appearance of native birds, including Kereru, Tui and Fantail that can be seen when walking through the native forest.

Accessibility 

Tracks can be steep at some points, for experienced hikers the walk up to the peak takes about an hour. For beginners like me (at that time), we reached the summit after 1.5hours. Surprisingly, all tracked have been constructed and well maintained. They also built seats to rest on various points along the way. The summit lookout where you could see beautiful views can be accessed through several well-formed tracks. I love the lockout up there as you can see panoramic views at many important landmarks of Wellington city, including its harbour, the Beehive and parliament building the Westpac Stadium (2002–2019) or Sky stadium, the railway station and Victoria University of Wellington (Pipitea campus), houses in Hutt Valley, Makara wind turbines, the Tararua Range, Porirua and the South Island. I love New Zealand as they offer numerous parks for sighseeting and outdoor activities. It is interesting that not only hikers could access the place, cyclists or mountain bikers could also do it up there! They can use the tracks that connects back to Karori, the other side of the city. 

Parking

The parking is free and there are lots of space at Woodmancote Road and Truscott Avenue car parks. There are even playground nearby the parking area which are friendly to families and kids.

From entry point, trekking, to the summit for Paranomic viewMakara Wind turbines can be seen within eyesight (Photo: LG Sophia_20)