Long Bay Regional Park is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

in Long Bay located in

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 ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is located in the

Hibiscus and Bays The Hibiscus and Bays Local Board is one of the 21 local boards of the Auckland Council. It is one of two boards overseen by the council's Albany Ward (local government), Albany Ward councillors. The board consists of eight members elected at ...

in the northern part of the city and is operated by

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 ...

Geography

The cliffs of the park are formed by

Waitemata Group The Waitemata Group is an Early Miocene group (geology), geologic group that is exposed in and around the Auckland Region of New Zealand, between the Whangarei Harbour in the North and the Raglan, New Zealand, Raglan Harbour in the South. The Gr ...

sandstone. The northern section of the park features large

pōhutukawa Pōhutukawa (''Metrosideros excelsa''), also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree, or iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the Myrtus, myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red (or occasionally orange, yellow o ...

trees and regenerating native bush. The regional park is adjacent to the

Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve The Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve is a protected area at Long Bay on the North Shore in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It was created by Order in Council in 1995. The shoreline of the Long Bay Regional Park and the Okura Estuary Sceni ...

, a 980-hectare reserve extending from

Karepiro Bay Karepiro Bay is a bay of the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana in the Auckland Region, New Zealand. It found between the Whangaparāoa Peninsula and North Shore, and is the mouth of the Weiti River and Ōkura River. Geography Karepiro Bay is a ...

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of ...

. The beach area is backed with sand dunes, which include restoration areas of

pīngao ''Ficinia spiralis'' (pīngao, pīkao, or golden sand sedge) is a coastal sedge endemic to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands). Originally widespread, it has suffered severely from competition with introduced marram grass and animal gra ...

and spinifex.

History

The Vaughan family farmed the area from the 1860s. George Vaughan build a homestead on the spot in 1863. In 1965, the farmland was sold in order to become a regional park. Areas of farmland above Long Bay Regional Park were protected from development by a court ruling in July 2008.

References

Hibiscus and Bays Local Board Area Regional parks of the Auckland Region Tourist attractions in the Auckland Region East Coast Bays {{Auckland-geo-stub