Mangapohue Natural Bridge Walk

Mangapohue Natural Bridge Walk - Waitomo

Mangapohue Natural Bridge Walk

Waitomo

17 Rankers Reviews

8 Face-to-Face

13 Waitomo

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Marios Gavalas

Author And Researcher

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Nau mai, haere mai

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Information

Mangapohue Natural Bridge Walk

700 m return | 20 minutes return

Mangapohue Natural Bridge is a highlight on the scenic drive from Waitomo Village to Marokopa. The 5 minute track to the left is pushchair-friendly and follows a boardwalk through an impressive limestone gorge that brings you underneath a natural bridge.

Walking Track

Access

Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve is signposted on the right, 24 km west of Waitomo Caves. There’s a large parking area with picnic tables and toilets just over the bridge.

Track

The first section to the twin bridge is flat and board walked with a bridge over the Mangapohue Stream. The gorge is impressive with wheelchair access to the lower viewing platform. From here there are steps to upper viewing platform.

Continuing, you cross a stile into farmland. It can be muddy and slippery as you pass limestone outcrops with fossilised oyster shells. Another stile leads back to the main track to complete the loop.

Geology

Most limestone in the area was deposted during the Oligocene geological period around 34-23 million years ago. Calcareous sandstones and mudstones were deposited in warmer climates and higher latitudes, eventually being compressed to form the karst limestones of today.

On the ceiling are these weird bio stalactites. Unlike usual hard calcareous non-biological deposits, these have been formed by mosses and algae feeding off the calcium rich waters, depositing the excess precipitate as they grown. They are known as epitrophic speleothems.

The fossilised oysters after the bridge are around 35 million years old and reached sizes of nearly a foot long! Would likely have been like eating your car tyre with a bit of salt.

Details

Feature Value Info

Organisation

DOC Waikato

Central government organisation

Location

North IslandWaikatoWaitomo

Categories

  • Activity__walking_and_trekkingWalking
  • Free

Directions

To Coordinates

Coordinates

-38.258773062065

174.896643066406

Latitude
-38.258773062065
Longitude
174.896643066406

Nearby

Reviews

    • 20Sept18.
    • The natural bridge is totally cool!
    • FREE.
    • This was impressive.
    • A very short walk to see a natural bridge.
    Rating Count Percentage
    10/10 9
    53%
    9/10 3
    18%
    8/10 5
    29%
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    5/10 0
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    4/10 0
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    3/10 0
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  • 4.0/5

    Actual bridge collapsed so we couldn’t walk the loop, but the short walk into the “cave” was beautiful, as well as the road from Waitomo Caves towards it.

    Well worth the drive!

    Reviewed about 1 year ago

  • 5.0/5

    20Sept18.

    Brill little walk. Not sure if we saw oysters, prob didn’t know what to look for.

    Reviewed about 6 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    FREE.

    One of the few non-commercialised attractions in Waitomo area. 5 min boardwalk to stunning cavern, parking will be limited in warmer months. Rotten long drop, avoid. 20 min round trip to fossil rock if you can be bothered with soggy field. There also exists a free glow worm cave (Piripiri) a couple km drive west before falls.

    Reviewed over 6 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    Natural bridge, once a cave, beautiful in the day or night, plenty of glowworms - magical.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 4.0/5

    Not what we expected - way bigger and pretty awesome!

    Go along the whole track, the stones outside are great as well. Only thing, that there are a lot of signs in front of the views.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in February 2016

  • 5.0/5

    Beautiful natural bridge/limestone gorge with an arch.

    One of my favourite spots. A short bush walk (well maintained track) takes you to this impressive formation - jaw dropping.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 5.0/5

    A very short walk to see a natural bridge.

    We walked it during the day and then came back at night to see the walks and ceiling covered in glowworms. No one else around and for free!

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 5.0/5

    Incredible view at night, for free.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    The natural bridge is interesting.

    The walk and the landscape view are very peaceful.

    Reviewed almost 9 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    Another nice short walk to a real natural wonder.

    Only 30 minutes and good to combine with the waterfall and the glowworm cave.

    Reviewed almost 9 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    Actual bridge collapsed so we couldn’t walk the loop, but the short walk into the “cave” was beautiful, as well as the road from Waitomo Caves towards it.

    Well worth the drive!

    Reviewed about 1 year ago

  • 5.0/5

    20Sept18.

    Brill little walk. Not sure if we saw oysters, prob didn’t know what to look for.

    Reviewed about 6 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    FREE.

    One of the few non-commercialised attractions in Waitomo area. 5 min boardwalk to stunning cavern, parking will be limited in warmer months. Rotten long drop, avoid. 20 min round trip to fossil rock if you can be bothered with soggy field. There also exists a free glow worm cave (Piripiri) a couple km drive west before falls.

    Reviewed over 6 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    Natural bridge, once a cave, beautiful in the day or night, plenty of glowworms - magical.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 4.0/5

    Not what we expected - way bigger and pretty awesome!

    Go along the whole track, the stones outside are great as well. Only thing, that there are a lot of signs in front of the views.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in February 2016

  • 5.0/5

    Beautiful natural bridge/limestone gorge with an arch.

    One of my favourite spots. A short bush walk (well maintained track) takes you to this impressive formation - jaw dropping.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 5.0/5

    A very short walk to see a natural bridge.

    We walked it during the day and then came back at night to see the walks and ceiling covered in glowworms. No one else around and for free!

    Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in March 2016

  • 5.0/5

    Incredible view at night, for free.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    The natural bridge is interesting.

    The walk and the landscape view are very peaceful.

    Reviewed almost 9 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    Another nice short walk to a real natural wonder.

    Only 30 minutes and good to combine with the waterfall and the glowworm cave.

    Reviewed almost 9 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    This was impressive and it is well worth stopping off to visit.

    An easy walk from the carpark, and a great opportunity for photos. Best of all, there were no crowds - we only saw one other group of 4 that were leaving when we got there.

    Reviewed about 11 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    The natural bridge is totally cool!

    Empty, no tourists!

    Reviewed over 12 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    We had a great experience on this walk -- the rock formations are unique to this corner of the country, and since this landscape used to be underwater, you can see shells and marine fossils along the trail

    (they're marked, because you'd not likely find them on your own).

    Reviewed almost 13 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    This was impressive.

    The bush walk to the feature is beautiful and is wheelchair accessible. Once there, standing beneath this great slab of overhanging limestone, good DOC standard wooden staircase takes you higher up to a lookout, then a rougher and, muddy on our visit, track loops back to the start. There's a good long-drop toilet and picnic tables near the carpark. Impressive, accessible and FREE - an unconditional 10/10.

    Reviewed almost 13 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    Impressive limestone scenery on a short but good circular walk.

    Reviewed over 13 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    Small walk through a narrow and beautiful gorge to a spectacular natural bridge.

    Reviewed over 13 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    Beautiful walk, which is also pram/wheelchair accessible.

    Reviewed over 14 years ago