mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
and regional park to the southeast of Auckland city, in the
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
and
Waikato
The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
regions of New Zealand's
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
. The ranges cover some and rise to 688 metres (2255 ft) at Kohukohunui.Hunua Ranges , ''An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand'', edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966. Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 26 September 2006. Accessed 15 March 2007.
Auckland Council
Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...
owns and manages of the ranges, including part located in the Waikato region, as a regional park open to the public.
Geography
The ranges are located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) southeast of the main Auckland urban area, above the western shore of the
Firth of Thames
The Firth of Thames () is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of Thames lies on its south ...
."The Hunua Ranges ..are bounded on the east by the Firth of Thames, the north by the Tamaki Strait, the west by the Wairoa River, and the south by the lower reaches of the Mangatangi River."
They are sparsely populated, and mostly lie within the boundaries of the Waharau and Hunua Ranges Regional Parks. The settlement of Hunua lies at the foot of the Hunua Ranges.Hunua an Waharau Regional Parks, Auckland Regional Council.
The ranges are covered by the largest area of native bush in Auckland, with streams, waterfalls, and hills overlooking the
Auckland Region
Auckland () is one of the 16 regions of New Zealand, which takes its name from the eponymous urban areas of New Zealand, urban area. The region encompasses the Auckland, Auckland metropolitan area, smaller towns, rural areas, and the islands o ...
and
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Reservoir (water), reservoirs sources from rivers and streams, including the Hunua Falls on the Wairoa River.
The Mangatawhiri Ridge is one of the last remaining breeding grounds of the
North Island kōkako
The North Island kōkako (''Callaeas wilsoni'') is an endangered forest bird which is endemic (ecology), endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is grey in colour, with a small black mask. Adults have distinctive blue wattles. Because ...
.
Kohukohunui
Kohukohunui () is the highest point in the Hunua Ranges. The New Zealand
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the Creative New Zealand, arts, Culture of New Zealand, culture, New Zealand Historic Places Trust, built heritage, Sport Ne ...
gives a translation of "great mist" for ''Kohukohunui''.
History
Pre-European settlement
Tāmaki Māori have traditionally used the ranges for a wide range of resources. The traditional name is ("The Expansive Forest of Kohukohunui"), named after Kohukohunui, the highest peak of the ranges. was a name used to describe the wider country between the Wairoa River valley and
Papakura
Papakura is a suburb of South Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland City Centre. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council.
The ar ...
. Māori made some use of the ranges and early European visitors found areas of clearing that had been used as gardens. Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki are tangata whenua for the ranges, and many archaeological sites are known within the ranges.
In November 1769,
Captain Cook
Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...
visited the
Hauraki Gulf
The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Ōrere Point, Ōrere, who then planted these along the Wairoa River, as one of the first crops of potatoes grown in New Zealand. The pigs were released into the Hunua Ranges, where they were hunted by Ngāi Tai.
The main part of the ranges was subject to confiscation after the
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars () took place from 1845 to 1872 between the Colony of New Zealand, New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori people, Māori on one side, and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. Though the wars were initi ...
. Early European use of the ranges was for timber extraction and for farming but low
soil fertility
Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.
limited success. There has been some mining of Manganese in the past. Gold prospecting for quartz reefs has never found payable reefs.
20th century
From the 1920s onwards the land was progressively bought by Auckland City Council utilising funds from its water supply operation.Barton, Ian L. 1978 ''"Auckland's south eastern bulwark : a history of the Hunua Ranges"''. Privately published. Development of the water supplies commenced in 1946, with the first of the four dams, Cossey's, completed with a capacity of 11.3 million cubic meters in 1956. Three
embankment dam
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...
s were constructed in the area: Upper Mangatāwhiri (1965), Wairoa (1975) and Mangatangi (1977). Combined, the dams have a capacity of 77.1 million cubic meters, and supply approximately 68% of Auckland's potable water, through the Ardmore Water Treatment Plant. , Watercare Services Ltd. Retrieved 22 February 2013
A decision was made to reforest the ranges in the early 1960s, after the area had gradually reverted into farmland. The bulk water supply operation and the land passed to the newly formed Auckland Regional Authority in 1964. The Authority completed the water supply development and continued the exotic afforestation on some of the north and western catchment land, started by the City Council, and its Water Department administered the land. The ranges were planted with a mix of exotic forest and native species, predominantly
rimu
''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a species of tree in the family Podocarpaceae. It is a dioecious evergreen conifer, reaching heights of up to , and can have a stout trunk (botany), trunk up to in diameter. It is endemis ...
. The forestry service nursery was one of the first organisations in New Zealand to propagate native trees through grafting techniques, and were the first to successfully graft
kauri
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside '' Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...
trees. The forestry service was shut down in the late 1980s, as the Auckland Regional Authority was replaced with the
Auckland Regional Council
The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The ARC ...
.
The water operation was corporatised as
Watercare Services
Watercare Services (Watercare) is an infrastructure asset management council-controlled organisation (CCO) that manages the drinking water and wastewater services of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Watercare is registered with the New Zeal ...
in 1992, but the land itself remained with the Auckland Regional Council. Watercare took ownership of the water related assets and took a long term lease from the Auckland Regional Council of the reservoir areas and the operational areas. The exotic forestry land was also leased to another party. The catchment land became regional park land.
21st century
In November 2010, the southernmost part of the Hunua Ranges were transferred to
Waikato
The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...
region.Franklin Ward map Auckland Council. Retrieved 10 November 2010. This determines the local government administrative boundaries, but the ownership of the former Auckland Regional Council park land went to the Auckland Council and that of the water assets is unchanged with Watercare Services.
Extensive flooding in the Hunua Ranges in March 2017 cut off roads. People staying on the ranges had to be evacuated.
In May 2018, parts of the park were closed to stop the spread of
Kauri dieback
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees, native to Australasia and Southeast Asia. It is one of three extant genera in the family Araucariaceae, alongside ''Wollemia'' and ''Araucaria'' (being ...
. Some of the tracks reopened in late 2020.
In September and October 2018, the entire park was closed during a 1080 pest control programme. The programme was subject to an unsuccessful legal challenge.
Recreation
Activities in the regional park include walking, mountain-biking, bird-watching and drone-flying (by permission).