Redwoods – Whakarewarewa Forest

The Rotorua Redwoods Forest is one of those rare and unique places that makes you feel both peace and inspiration the moment you step inside. Towering Californian redwood trees rise straight into the beautiful blue sky, their trunks so massive and tall that they make you slow down, look up, and take a deep breath. The forest has a calm, almost sacred atmosphere, with soft light feel to it. What makes this forest especially special is that every turn offers a slightly different view.Rows of majestic trees, pockets of golden sunlight, and moments where the forest feels endless. It’s also a wonderful place to simply pause. There are benches along the way where you can sit, breathe in the fresh air, and enjoy the stillness. Despite being so close to Rotorua town, the forest feels like a different world , offering a refreshing break from the stress holding you down. The scent of earth and wood, mixed with the cool air, makes the experience deeply calming and grounding. Whether you’re a nature lover, a photographer, or just someone looking for a peaceful place to walk and reflect, the Rotorua Redwoods Forest is truly an unforgettable, once in a lifetime experience. It’s not just a walk among trees ,it’s an discovery of your newfound relaxation. You leave refreshed, and quietly amazed by nature’s scale and beauty.(You can go during night or morning! We did both.)

The Redwoods Whakarewarewa Nightlights experience is truly magical and unlike anything else. Walking through the towering redwood forest at night, with softly glowing lights suspended among the trees, feels calm, surreal, and slightly adventurous all at once. The atmosphere is peaceful and beautifully designed, allowing you to slow down and really take in the surroundings. The elevated walkways are well constructed and safe, making the experience comfortable for all ages while still feeling unique and exciting. Each section of the forest has its own mood, with gentle lighting that highlights the scale and beauty of the trees without overpowering nature. It’s an easy and memorable evening activity, especially after a day of exploring Rotorua. If you’re looking for something relaxing, scenic, and a little bit magical, the Redwoods Nightlights walk is absolutely worth doing.

Absolutely stunning experience! Walking high among the giant redwoods felt peaceful and surreal. The forest smells amazing, and the views from the bridges are beautiful. I went for the night walk — the lights and soft music made it feel magical, almost cinematic. It’s a bit pricey for the length of the walk, but totally worth it for the atmosphere and photos.

I went to see the night lights at the Redwoods. Clearly a very popular tourist experience and I had to queue for two hours to get up into the trees. The experience itself was cool but for the price and the wait I felt was not necessarily worth it. Particularly as redwoods aren’t native so the experience isn’t really authentically New Zealandesque. Nonetheless I still enjoyed it and can’t comment on the day experience.

Well maintained park area, great view of the forest. It can be some what crowded, but our family easily enjoyed the trek. My recommendation for those that go; keep large group photos at a minimum. Take some pictures, but please be respectful of the others around you. Look for openings were others are not trying to immerse themselves in the surroundings. Taking in the sights through your eyes instead of a digital sensor is breathtaking.

Absolutely gorgeous experience. Lots of amazing and Beautiful trails to walk, various lengths so you can plan the day putting well. Moderate level of fitness required. Breathtaking views at one point. Lots of animals. There are even horse tracks and biking tracks also. Decent parking. Visitors centre here also. It's also the access area to the redwoods tree walk.

There are several trails to select from. We walked the Green Trail which is a 5k loop. There are steps to get to the scenic overlook, but not too difficult. Throughout there are benches to rest and enjoy the peaceful forest. The trek is all about the towering Redwoods and worth the excursion.

Awesome spectacle. Especially if you visit by night and watch the lit up forest. We experienced long lines but apparently we were there on a couple of the busiest days in the year, Boxing Day.

This is a great place to hike with trails of all types and levels. We parked at the main information center where the elevated Redwoods walk is located and hiked the Pohaturoa Track which initially runs through the redwoods, then along Tarawera road for a short distance then steadily goes up to viewpoints of the City and also Te Puia Dan the Pōhutu Geyser basin with lake views. We added on the joint use mountain bike track Mud pool loop which had one active mud pool. Loved that the plant life was so diverse with many different pine, fur and even eucalyptus which smelled wonderful.

Beautiful forest! The questions you need to answer is whether to visit during the day or at night? And if you visit as night, do you do the (expensive) tree walk? I would highly recommend visiting at night. It is truly special. I can't speak to walking through the trees at night on the ground, as we paid the US$20 to walk through the tree tops. The view at night is like fairy lights; easy to imagine this as the setting for every elf story I have ever read.  BF liked the engineering aspects; it is cool how the tree walk has been hung without damage or drilling into the trees. Would definitely recommend this as an unusual way to spend an evening.

Such a cool forest in Rotorua! There are so many different trails and they're still developing some more. It's nice that they have trails made for different purposes so people can enjoy their activities safely: bikers only, families only (small kids with their bikes allowed), walking only, etc. There's a paid treetop walk where you can pay $29 for. I personally think this is a bit much since you can enjoy the same walk on the ground. The view might be slightly different but you can still see the lanterns. It's really beautiful when they light up the lanterns at night. Continue walking from the information center and you might be able to see glow worms at night! We saw so many of them and it was gorgeous!

When researching our trip to New Zealand, I came across this redwood forest. I thought that such trees only grew in the western United States, so I was happy to see that I'd have the opportunity to see them here. When I arrived, we initially intended to do the treewalk. But at around $30/person for two people, we decided to walk the trail on the ground through the Redwood forest instead. Im glad we did, as it was something special. The redwoods are huge. It was neat to see them and get up close to them. Aside from that, it was a nice walk in the forest. In addition to the redwoods, which grow twice as fast as the ones in California, I was able to identify the different types of ferns, which I had learned about the previous night. This forest was beautiful and the 1.75 mile trail through it was well maintained. It made for a lovely walk through the forest. I would absolutely come here again. Im also glad I came here because although I did see a few redwoods elsewhere in New Zealand, I didnt see them in the numbers or concentration I saw here.

Pretty amazing trails. There is an option to do a paid treetop or a free series of trails. They are well maintained but not extremely well identified. Make sure you note which trail at the beginning.

This is a beautiful forest. You can park for free and wander to your heart's content. We were in a rush so only took a short hike, but if you have more time you could easily spend hours here.

Having seen the Redwood forests in California, I thought I was somewhat prepared for the grandeur of a Redwood forest. But the size and scale of this forest was impressive and when surrounded by other flora and fauna, it makes for a great afternoon in Rotura. Planted in 1901 as trees for building materials, locals continued to plant these trees into the 1920's and 30's. While all did not survive, there is a large section of the forest that is still comprised of these original trees, towering over the rest of the forest. We rented bikes at the Waipa bike center where you can also leave your car. Read my review for that as you need to know which trails to embark on. I was on the "kiddie" trail and that was plenty of work for this biking gal! And if you are unfamiliar with these trails, get a map or a guide. While pretty well marked, at one point I wandered off the simple path and was at the top of a gorge that seemed impossible to get around (trust me, I did as there was no way I was going down that vertical drop!) And be careful when you stop to take pictures of the trees. The first one comes up around a corner and people are just stopped there so if you are not paying attention you may run into them. And the best thing about this park? The admission is free so if you bring your own bike, you can have a wonderful activity for the whole family that costs you nothing other than the energy it takes to pedal your bike!

What a beautiful forest. We opted for the Quarry Lookout Track and then take the shortcut Quarry Road back to the parking lot since we had a limited time available here, but still wanted to take in the forest. This was the option recommended to us by the ranger at the visitor center. Even though it was considered relatively easy, there was quite a bit of an uphill climb that made me realize how unfit I truly was. This track was extraordinarily quiet. We were there mid-November and we would go for about 30 minutes before seeing anyone. We could probably count in one hand how many people in total we ran into during our walk. It made for a restorative experience, allowing us to fully take in the nature in which we were surrounded by. Also love the comforting smell of eucalyptus greeting us in certain areas. I wish we had time to explore the other tracks, but I think we had a good preview of the forest, and we could definitely "see" Pete and Elliot tramping around.

Great! however we ventured onto a walk which seemed never ending & got lost for over 3hrs, requiring us to flag down a work truck & hitch a ride back. The walks don't specify times or distance so check before you leave and take water etc.

A really nice place for a good walk to a long hike. Very well maintained trails. We came in early May and there were a fair number of people on the trails--I imagine that it can get very crowded in summer. I wish there was more information posted on the trails or available in the iSITE about the kinds of trees though. I only saw a couple of plackards along the trails it would have been nice to be able to learn a little more about the trees etc.

...and then I fell in love with mountain biking (or maybe it was an infatuation with the Redwoods trails, it's hard to tell ;)). With over 130km of mountain biking trails to explore, boredom will definitely not be an issue. There's no entrance fee to the park, although they offer a $10 shuttle to bring you to the top if you don't want to tire yourself out just getting there (that's where the 'expert' trails are). But there are TONS of trails that are easily accessible without the shuttle, and the best option if you are a beginner/intermediate, anyhow. If you're bike-less, you can hire at the Waipa Mountain Bike carpark, too ($35 for 2 hours, $45 for 4 hours). It's definitely good fun, and I'd recommend adding it as a must-do activity while in Rotorua!

Wow. That's what I have to say (in the good way). I've never seen redwoods before and these trees are enormous. Starting off at the visitor center/gift shop you can choose which trail to take by time. We chose a 1 hour hike as it was getting late and it was looking like it was getting dark (the trees blocked out much of the sun as we found out later). The trails were all segregated for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding and were all well-marked with color-coded signs so you knew which fork to take etc. The best part? Admission is FREE. Woohoo! It's a beautiful park full of majestic trees and we could have hiked to a distant lake several hours away if we'd liked. We definitely would come back here and take longer hikes and picnic along the way at the very clean tables we saw. Definitely worth a visit.