Totara Park
We finally took our inaugural post-lockdown day trip to yet another beautiful park in Auckland. I’m amazed. Every time I look for a new place to go, I find a seemingly endless supply of hidden treasures to visit. Our latest trip was to Totara Park, which is less of a long tramp kind of place and more like a perfect combination of outdoor fun for families with young kids. There are trails, playgrounds, and and and off leash dog friendliness. Even better, it was only a twenty five minute drive for us!
The park is just off of Highway 1 and right next to the Botanic Gardens. In fact, the trails from Totara will take you right to them! There is a large carpark at the entrance, and right away the kids ran to the first playscape. As they were occupied for awhile, I was able to check out some of the amenities including the Beauford house - a heritage house for conferences and weddings that looked like something right out of the 1993 version of Much Ado About Nothing starring Emma Thompson and Keanu Reeves. There were also plenty of picnic tables, top notch restroom facilities, a large outdoor pool (open December - March), and an admittedly run down looking tennis court.
Best of all, right past the pool and tennis court, was the entrance to the Puhinui Stream Forest Trail. This was a magical escape into a beautiful wooded area that made you feel 100 km away from the city. The kids loved running over the bridges and exploring all of the offshoots from the path. While my kids - now 5 and 7 - are the ideal age to explore this area, it is not stroller friendly for younger kids. There are steep steps periodically that would make a stroller nearly impossible to manoeuvre.
The kids, who are magically able to find all playscapes even though they can’t find their own shoes half the time, led us to another, newer playground in the heart of the park. This one had a flying fox, climbing structure, and one of the most scenic slides ever. Who wouldn’t want to zoom down this?
The park is home to a number of other amenities that we weren’t able to check out. There are mountain biking trails fit for adults and kids. More information about them can be found here. If bikes aren’t your thing, but horses are, there is a pony club and bridle paths to explore. And if you’re dying to see glow worms that are supposedly brighter than those at the Waitomo Caves, then check out the free walks hosted in the evenings.
This was such an easy park to visit that I’m sure we’ll return. I think I’ll wait until the spring so we can enjoy the incredible Botanic Gardens on the same trip. With enough snacks and a picnic lunch, this is a whole day outing.
