New Zealand Walks: Papamoa’s two great recreational areas
At Papamoa (Bay of Plenty) we are so lucky to have two wonderful recreation areas in our backyard, Papamoa Hills and Summerhill Farm.
Papamoa Regional Park 20 minutes from Tauranga, opened in 2004 as the first regional park outside Auckland or Wellington. It covers an area of 135 ha and has many archaeological sites, ditches, middens, terracing and several Pa sites.
It can be accessed from a carpark in Poplar Lane, off Te Puke Highway. From here the track rises unrelentingly steeply to the trig at 224m. After an area of new planting, you walk mainly over open farmland with spectacular coastal views over Mt Maunganui, Papamoa, Te Puke, and further out to Mayor, Motiti, Taumaihi, Whale and White Islands.
The walk can be completed as a loop showing the different pa sites,
and is well marked. To make the treads less slippery on stiles, nails have been hammered into them in interesting patterns.
While Papamoa Hills is well known and used regularly by locals, not so many are aware of the myriad of walking and mountain biking trails at Summerhill, just over the fence. Summerhill, a working farm can be accessed either from Reid Road, or over a stile just below the trig on Papamoa Hills. David and Chloie Blackley first purchased 100 ha in 1959, and subsequently added two adjoining farms to make a total of 400ha. Half is in forest, native bush and a variety of introduced species such as gums, poplar, cyprus, ash and Tasmanian blackwood. The other half is farmed mostly in sheep and some cattle.
In 2004 Summerhill Recreation Farm was established, and in 2014, 126ha was gifted to a trust for the purpose of recreation and education. All donations and proceeds from the farm, are used to develop and maintain this land for all to enjoy. What a totally amazing gift!
Meeting at Poplar Lane, a group of us spent four hours wandering around both areas. It took about 45 minutes to reach the trig via the main track. There we had a good view out to sea where six boats were sitting waiting to unload at the port. After exploring the pa site we scurried down the other side because the
wind was icy.
Climbing over the stile into Summerhill, we hugged the fence to the left, then climbed another stile in the corner of the paddock to reach the forest walk.
A marked track led through native bush with some lovely punga and giant puriri, intersected at intervals, by colour coded bike trails.
We stopped to look at a Mongolian Ger, which can be rented out for the night, headed down a trail to the pump house and onto the ‘Monorail’ Trail.
After a break in the sun under a stand of tall white gums, we took a zig zag route to a gate leading to open pasture near a mountain bike ‘Challenge’ area, an area of hills and jumps for extreme bikers.
Poled markers led us along the farm past lots of lambs, down through a gully with ponds and wetlands, then a steep climb up to Reid Road. Across the road we climbed yet another stile to the Ridgeline Track, a road section with magnificent views of the whole area and out to sea.
We had a lunch stop in a sunny spot with several cut logs lying around providing perfect seating. Branching off, we followed a trail downhill towards ‘Camp David’ and
cut through a stand of Tasmanian blackwoods.
From here the track dropped into Creek Trail leading to Slippery Creek bridged, but well named. It was then gradually up hill on the blue track, all the way to Reid Road car park and another Ger.
It is best to walk these trails mid week when few bikers are around, because we did use bike trails to connect walking tracks, but saw no bikers. We ended the day with an easy wander over open tops to the trig and back down to our cars.
Stunning views, magnificent trees, walking tracks, bike trails, picnic areas, a couple of Gers and open farmland all around, combine to make this an incredibly lovely environment.
Summerhill is a beautiful place to spend a day, and you will discover something different every time you go. A gold coin donation is appreciated. A box is at the Reid Road carpark.