**The Mt Cass Walkway will be CLOSED on 24 May for a private landholder event. Please use the Tiromoana Walkway instead.**
The Mt Cass Walkway remains open during construction of the Mt Cass Wind Farm. For safety reasons, the route has been temporarily diverted away from the work site and now follows an out-and-back ridge track.
From the Mt Cass Road car park, the out-and-back ridge track passes an old lime quarry before climbing to a lookout below the summit. The route opens out to wide views across the Waipara–Omihi Valley, limestone country, vineyards, the Mt Cass Range, Pegasus Bay and the Pacific coast, from Motunau Island to Banks Peninsula.
The summit picnic area is one of the highlights of the walk, with sweeping views across the landscape and a clear vantage point over the wind farm works. Allow about 1 hour 30 minutes to reach the lookout and a little over 1 hour for the return walk. If you plan to stop for a picnic, allow up to 3 hours overall.
Future extension to the walkway – As part of the Mt Cass Wind Farm construction, work will soon begin on a 6 km extension to the walkway, starting from the end of the existing Mt Cass Walkway loop.
Construction
The Waipara Valley Promotion Association and Transwaste (who are funding the restoration of Tiromoana Bush and maintenance of the Tiromoana Bush walkways) cooperatively developed the Mt Cass Walkway. Local people volunteered labour and donated materials to construct the walkway that opened to the public on 10 April 2006.
Take a track that leads to a lookout
The Walkway passes through privately owned farmland with sheep and cattle. The Walkway is closed at the height of the lambing and calving seasons, from 1 August to 30 October approximately. It is also subject to sudden closures in the height of Summer due to High Fire Risk.
These are generally the opening hours:
- Spring-Summer, 1 November to 31 March, 8am to 6pm
- Autumn-Winter, 1 April to 31 July, 8am to 4pm
Climb to a peak
There’s information and brochures with maps available at the car park on Mt Cass Road. Cell phone coverage is limited in the area, so it’s recommended that visitors take a brochure with them along the track. If you don’t want to keep the brochure, you can leave it in the holder at the car park when you’ve finished your visit. A downloadable brochure with a detailed map of the track, lookout, picnic spot and toilet is here.
Walk through native bush to an unspoiled beach
The Tiromoana Bush Walkway is a great way to experience being in a regenerating native forest complete with ponds, wetlands, and native birds as your companions.