A stroll along the Lake Ōkāreka Walkway
Beautiful lilly pads on the lake.
How to get there
The track starts at the Lake Ōkāreka Reserve reserve on Acacia Road, about 15 mins drive from Rotorua. The road is sealed all the way. The car park can fit about 10 cars, but there is more parking at the boat ramp 5 mins down the road - about 500m away. The road doesn’t have room for roadside parking, please respect the residents and use either of the carparks.
“The Lake Ōkāreka Walkway was built by the Rotorua Lakes Council with assistance from Environment Bay of Plenty’s Environmental Enhancement Fund, Landcare Okareka, Fish & Game New Zealand, Department of Conservation and Wildland Consultants. It’s now managed by Landcare Okareka. Building started in 2001 and officially opened to the public in February 2023.”
I have visited most of the lakes in the Rotorua District, so I’m not sure how I’ve missed Lake Ōkāreka after all these years. The tall fella and I were looking for a chilled-out Sunday walk in the sunshine, and the walkway didn’t disappoint. It’s an easy 5.5km there and back walk from the boat ramp carpark to the outlet.
Since Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023, many of the lakes in the Rotorua District have had higher than average water levels. Many have suffered lakeside flooding, even though the lakes can still be accessed with caution. It’'s uncertain when the lake levels will return to normal.
Enjoying the views as we walked along the wetlands boardwalk.
Our walk started from the boat ramp carpark because it has flushing toilets - there are no toilets at the reserve carpark. From the toilets, we walked roadside for 15 mins until we reached the lakeside reserve. The track is wheelchair accessible until Silver Beach, as beyond here the track goes up stairs and along a short bush track to the outlet, where the track ends.
The birds seem to be pretty chilled as the humans walked by.
About five minutes from the carpark, the track opens up to the lakeside wetlands. There’s a purpose-built boardwalk so you can do enjoy the birdlife without damaging the wetland and plant life. We checked out the bird hide on the way back, but with the birds being so chilled anyway, it was easier to do our bird watching (and photography) from the boardwalk instead. We spotted some small fish swimming in the wetland streams, but being so dry, the streams were mostly a trickle.
After the wetlands, the walkway continues to stay lakeside.
The lake is also popular with boaties, kayakers and swimmers. With the warm summer that we've had, it was no surprise to see plenty of boaties and wakeboarders out on the lake that day. Silver Beach have a couple of tables and a long drop toilet.
From Silver Beach, the track heads up into a short bush track that takes you all the way to the outlet. If I had brought my togs with me, I reckon I would have gone for a swim there. The water looked lovely and the quietest part of the lake.
There are plenty of secluded swimming spots along the way.
The boat ramp carpark was chocka by the time we got back, with plenty of families settling in for an afternoon picnic and swim. Strava tells me it took us less than 1.5 hours to return, but we did stop to take a lot of pictures along the way, so the walk itself would have only taken us an hour
Aaron enjoying his cold Good George glass of ginger beer from The Good Eastern Taphouse.
We stopped off for a drink and a bite to eat at The Good Eastern Taphouse on Tarawara Road in Rotorua on the way home. Aaron, being the ginger beer fiend he is, really enjoyed their Good George ginger beer on tap.
Ronna Grace Funtelar is a 40-something desk-fit creative, weekend explorer and cheese enthusiast in Whakatāne, New Zealand. She has a big butt, chunky thighs and shakin’ more jelly than Destiny’s Child. Her creaky knees discovered an appreciation for Type 2 adventures in the bush and mountains in her thirties, and she’s been hiking ever since.
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