The Waipakihi River drains the Kaimanawa Ranges on the eastern side of the desert road. Where it leaves the mountains it becomes the Tongariro River. It is a picturesque river valley through beech forest. It has insufficient flow through the warmer months and can only be run after rainfall.
View Larger Topographic Map
Shuttle
There are two ways to into the Waipakihi valley. The most popular route is over the Urchin track. To get to the track take Kaimanawa Road off SH1. After crossing the Tongariro River Bridge turn right onto the gravel road towards the Pillars of Hercules and then left to the Urchin track. The road is rough but passable in non 4wds.
The alternative access is walk-in float-back from Waipakihi road-end. The last 200m of Waipakahi road descends to the river and is now four-wheel drive only.
Walking up the River
The walk-up float back
The Urchin Track
The Urchin track option follows a well marked and benched track with spectacular Tongariro/Ruapehu views. It takes less than three hours to reach the Waipakihi river. The last hour involves a steep descent. This track reaches the river at a convenient point to put-in. There are great camping spots on the river flats. It would be possible to do the trip as a big day trip with an early start but it’s well worth camping and getting whistled at by a Sika deer.
Both
The Waipakahi River
It is a straightforward Class II paddle with nothing particular that is overly challenging. The river is braided into several channels on the wider river flats and there are occasional logs to watch out for. About an hour downstream of the Urchin track, there is a small gorge but there are no difficult rapids. After this short
Camping is possible on spectacular river flats on
Tongariro River, Waipakahi Rd to Rangipo (III)
It is possible to continue below the Waipakahi Road for 3km to the Rangipo Dam on Rangipo Intake Road. The river swings around to the north and has a quite different character with bouldery technical rapids. It contains more continuous rapids, with at least four being class III. It is not run often and will require careful scouting for logs and hazards. There is a named rapid (Shithouse) just above the gauge that is III+. Allow plenty of time for scouting and portages (say 2 hours). The river below the dam and around the tunnel portals is very hazardous. Get out on river right before the conspicuous water feature where the diversion tunnels dump into the dam.

Gauge
The river requires rainfall to be a viable paddle. Above 5 cumecs is probably viable, if boney, and 10 cumecs is a reasonable flow.





