Rawhiti Cave

Pros: -extremely beautiful cave, way larger and besser than expected, defenetly a must do if you are in the area Cons: -Defenetly a harder, but shorter track to get up there (very steep for about 1h to get up) -Long gravel road and one lane, so if you get someone coming in your way it's a bit tricky. -Very small parking lot, not suited for big campers -Have to drive through a gate you have to open yourself

The walk to Rawhiti Cave begins with a km or so along the Dry River bank. There are steep cliffs either side and lush vegetation. The track turns right and begins go climb much more steeply. The uphill climb is about another 1 km and takes 25-30 minutes. Its quite a hard climb with a bit of clambering over rocks. But then you come around the corner and see the glorious stalactites of the Cave. There is such a profusion of shapes and colours, it's a feast fof the eyes. There's a few more steps down into the cave to soak up the atmosphere of this special place. When you've soaked up enough to carry away great memories you return the way you came.

Well worth the drive and hike. Drive up though private farm to car park then walk up gentle track through the valley beside a usually dry riverbed then zigzag up to the cave. Not too onerous. Around 2.5km there, not too much mud, around a easy 1 hour walk. Cave is incredible and unlike others in nz. Can't get far into it but the view from the entrance is stunning.

Okay, It says an hour up and an hour back. What they don't tell you is the steep incline zigzag track. Take care, good shoes and a walking stick. The caves are so worth it first thing as the sun comes up over the hill and shines in (11am in May). For me 1.15hr up 45 mins down.

Definitely recommend a walk to the caves a good level of fitness required took us an hour to get there and about 40 min return.

Not very easy to get there, BUT definitely worth to see! Amazing place

The cave entrance is really cool. Love seeing the dried out river bed, at the start of the hike. I recommend doing it but you should be prepared. We were told this was an easy hike that just takes an hour and the sign only says difficult because it’s an unmaintained trail. We had been hiking much faster than all the NZ hiking sign guesstimates. We also thought they meant unmaintained like some hikes I’ve down in Scandinavia or the states where there is no trail through the woods just marked trees for direction. This hike has a clear one-way trail. Some of the trail is eroded in places, though. It took us 1 hr 40 to get up and 40 min to get down. We were hiking as fast as we could, with no breaks to beat the sun setting. You gain 1000ft pretty quickly, a majority of the trail is a steep, series of switchbacks. We hiked in winter, the trail was very wet/muddy and slippery. The trail is very narrow. Like I said above there are parts that have eroded away completely, you have to step over gaps where that has occurred. I personally wouldn’t take children on the trail in winter, as we slipped a couple times, and once I feared going over the edge. Also, some of the steps up to the next switchback are a bit high and as a very short woman I found it to be quite a step up. I’m not sure how a child would do it unassisted. TLDR: I recommend it but it is a more intensive hike that at times can be a bit dangerous. Don’t believe anyone who says it’s a super easy hike and shouldn’t take you very long. I’d set aside at least 2.5 hours to do it.

A bit remote, but worth the drive & effort. The hike took me about 1h return, as indicated on the sign at the start of the track. There are some challenging/tricky parts and it can get very slippy and muddy. Would recommend it only to sure-footed people and in dry conditions.