Walk to Kawakawa Bay Lookout

Located in the north-western corner of Lake Taupo, the Great Lake Trail is a popular mountain biking route split over four sections that are typically ridden over 2 to 3 days.

The good news is that these are shared trails meaning that you can also enjoy this area on foot as we did over the weekend. On this occasion, the weather was decidedly average, with strong westerly winds so we took the opportunity to walk a section of the K2K trail that runs between Kinloch and Kawakawa Bay. The thinking was that this forest walk would be fairly sheltered and as it turned out, we were right.

From Kinloch, the track meanders its way west up to a saddle on the headland that separates Whangamata Bay from Kawakawa Bay and at a point around 6km from Kinloch you’re rewarded with this amazing view towards Kawakawa Bay.

From here, the track makes its way down to the shore in Kawakawa Bay, but since this was meant to be a ‘short’ walk for us, we headed back to Kinloch from the lookout. If you’re in the Taupo area and looking for things to do, this walk is a great option, and we look forward to exploring more of the Great Lake Trail on foot and, at some point, on two wheels.