"Climbed Maungatautari following the Wairere traverse/graded track up to Pukeatua peak as we had previously done the Te Tonga/rough tramping track to zPukeautua summit as we wanted to get a head start to Maungatautari peak. From Pukeatua summit we head off on the Te tonga track to Maungatuatari peak, it was abnormally disorientating as I felt it was going much further east then the maps suggested and took longer then I expected, but I hadn't taken into account the up and down distance when looking at the map and wasn't using any navigation gear. We took our time as I was accompanied by two 7yr olds who enjoyed snack time, it took 5hours to the Maungatautari summit. We walked past the summit on the Te tonga track (its labelled as the Hicks rd over the mountain track until we meet the up with the Wairere traverse or quad bike track and headed back to the southern entrance this took 3 hours. Maungatuatari and Pukeatua offered didn't offer heaps of views of the Waikato but the bird life is abundant and it was perfect conditions under the thick forest canopy, shady and with a warm breeze. Also worth noting there is no streams on the Te tonga track so take plenty of water, but on the ..." — loganscott • Jan 17, 2021

"I climbed this as part of the Pouakai circuit going clockwise, I picked the best day of the week for the climb which not only made it safe but the views were fantastic well worth watching the weather forecast. The circuit is 25.5km plus I added the Bells falls which is a 3km there and back tack on and chose to walk the Rams track instead of the road that the circuit suggest as the road is narrow and busy. You could do this with the family stopping at the 2 huts along the way taking 2 or 3 days and exploring the area, its will still be a hard climb but it allows plenty of time. I was on a time limit and decided to do it in a day, it was 9hrs with small stops to enjoy the vista. Doing the circuit clockwise allowed for great views in the morning a the shade of the forest in the afternoon. There are many challenging climbs, the trip to Bells Falls was steep up an down trip and The Henry almost broke me later on in the journey not just the climb but the decent goes on forever. Overall this is a must do trip however you do it and there is many more walks that will fill you with appreciation of the land we live in. " — loganscott • Jan 6, 2021

"Climbed this with my 72yr old father and my 7yr old son. It is a steep but fun little walk, the bottom half is stairs and the top half is chains and a well worn rocky track. Takes all of 10mins to the top even with stops but it pays to watch your step especially on the way down." — loganscott • Jan 5, 2021

"Went up via the safety creek route. Tracks pretty rough in places but easy to follow in general. Great views on the tops and plenty of animals and birds around. Unfortunately the goat numbers are getting away since DOC stopped controlling the population several years ago. " — samspeight • Jan 3, 2021

"Started at the Bald hill carpark at 1550hrs and camped near the tapped water source in the tops before bald hill. On the second day we traveled along the tops to Fraser peak and dropped down the track to explorer hut and walked out to the totara road end on the third day. Awesome walk with really well maintained tracks and hut. Was good to see kaka and plenty of kea and rifleman around." — samspeight • Dec 31, 2020