Baring Head

Parangarahu Lakes, Wellington, New Zealand

Gravel road from Pencarrow Head to Baring Head.

Easy

Bike and Foot

Traversing Fitzroy Bay this road provides access to the popular rock climbing area around Baring Head.

The road gets progressively rougher, eventually degenerating into little more than a rough 4x4 track. For the last 200m the road almost disappears entirely, with a soft sand surface that is extremely difficult to ride when dry.

At least 40 shipwrecks have been recorded along the coastline between Eastbourne and Baring Head. The small, steel-hulled steamer Paiaka, which was wrecked in 1906, is beside the road 450m past the outlet of Lake Kohangatera.

The Baring Head lighthouse has now (since mid-2011) been opened up to the public with access via the bridge near the end of the Wainui Coast Road. There is a large sign and carpark about 2 km from the coast. Cycling is permitted around the "main track" (red dotted line on the park map), and is probably easier than the sandy/gravel track on the coast around Baring Head. On crossing the bridge you can go round clockwise or anti-clockwise. If you turn left (to go clockwise), the track is flat and follows the river for about 2 km, with the old pump house about half way.

At the coast you have the choice of either continuing down the beach to the climbing bounders (beneath the lighthouse), or head up a short steep 4WD track towards the lighthouse. Heading up, there are marker posts across the grassland towards the lighthouse, which is well worth a look. Behind the lighthouse there is a marked track to the trig on top of the hill (about 175 m asl) and nearby WWII bunkers. The main track continues along the top of the hills, or there is a lower track from the lighthouse that leads north along a 4WD track. You do have the option of going down to join the coastal track from Pencarrow Head, or continuing along the 4WD road that leads back to the carpark.

Allow 3 hours for a round trip from the Coast Road carpark if you want to explore the lighthouse and boulders. You can do the round trip in about 1.5 hours if you follow the main track and don't go to the lighthouse. The signage suggests you are expected to do the walk clockwise. If you go anti-clockwise from the bridge, as you emerge from the twisty 4WD track (sealed towards the top) to the flat grassy tops, the track leading along the top of the hills to the bunkers is not clearly marked. There are posts across the grassland near the fenceline, but the first few markers do not have orange triangles on the northern side. If you turn left at the gate and follow the fenceline south-east you can't go wrong (the bunkers and trig are visible in the distance).

With the opening of the bridge on the Coast Road the trip to Baring Head is no longer a return trip from Eastbourne - there are now other options for entry and exit.

Start from the end of Pencarrow at Pencarrow Head, or the carpark off Coast Road south of Wainuiomata.

The total return distance from Eastbourne to Baring Head is about 29km.

Much of the road passes through private land, so stay on the road.

21.16km

Gravel road

5 May 2012 by ledzep

Ian