There are lots of little short Porirua walks you can do.
But in this post, I’ve chosen five that I enjoy, each with some nice views.
Here they are:
5 PORIRUA WALKS WITH NICE VIEWS
1. Colonial Knob
2. Onepoto Loop Track
3. Titahi Bay Beach & Southern Clifftop Walk
4. Whitireia Park to Summit
5. Streamside Park Pathways
If you’re after a trailhead locations of these walks in Porirua:
1. COLONIAL KNOB
- Distance: 3-15km (depending on your route).
- Difficulty: Medium.
There are various ways you can walk to get to the summit of Rangatuhi/Colonial Knob, but as I describe in the full post below I recommend starting at the Camp Elsdon car park.
From here you can take the steep route via the stairs through the native forest, or you can take the longer, gradual route up the Utiwai Track.
Both routes join at the first lookout. The views are nice from here, and often enough for some people to decide they’ll go back to the car park. But the summit is still ~2km away along the farm road.
You’ve done the majority of the incline when you reach the lookout, but the views at the summit are worth it. Check out some of the photos in the full post below 🙂
GET THE FULL DETAILS: THE COLONIAL KNOB SUMMIT WALK
2. ONEPOTO LOOP TRACK
- Distance: 6 – 7km.
- Difficulty: Easy.
The Onepoto Loop Track starts next to the Titahi Bay Boating Club and is a nice loop track in Whitireia Park. There’s less than 100 metres of elevation and it doesn’t matter which way you do the loop (I prefer going clockwise).
You’ll get some nice views over the Park, Titahi Bay Golf Course, Onehunga Bay, the Wairaka Walkway, and nearby suburbs.
This is a perfect walk if there are a few of you who want a nice catch-up with an easy-to-follow track that’ll give you your 10,000 steps for the day.
GET THE FULL DETAILS: THE ONEPOTO LOOP TRACK
3. TITAHI BAY BEACH AND SOUTHERN CLIFFTOP WALK
- Distance: 2-4km (depending on when you turnaround).
- Difficulty: Easy.
The Southern Clifftop Walk starts from the southern end of Titahi Bay Beach so in theory you can start from anywhere along the beach.
The official start of the walk is at the Southern end of the beach past the boat sheds where the sand transitions into rocks. You’ll see a track leading up the hill to your left. It’s a wide gravel track on a steady ascent as you get to the top of the cliff.
While it’s a cliffside walk, you’re not right by the cliff. It’s not long until you get amazing views back over the beach, Mana Island, and surrounding areas.
You’ll even see Kapiti Island peering around the corner.
You can turn around at any point, but when you hit Moki Road, I’d suggest you keep going. You can turn right onto Moki Road for a couple of hundred metres down to what the locals have named Love Beach.
And/or you’ll see faint singletrack continuing on the other side of the road which continues on for a wee bit with more dramatic cliff-top views.
Whenever you’re ready, turn around and make your way back to Titahi Bay Beach.
4. CAR PARK TO WHITIREIA/MT COUPER SUMMIT
- Distance: 4 – 5km return.
- Difficulty: Easy-medium.
When I speak about this walk, I’m talking about this route starting from the Onehunga Bay Car Park that follows the coastline to the Mt Couper/Whitireia Summit.
The track is flat to start with and follows the coastline where there are opportunities to hop along the rocks if you like.
If you continue walking all the way to the end of the flat you’ll get to Kaitawa Point, but to get to the summit you’ll need to retrace your steps to find the path that goes up the hill.
The path up the hill is on a single trail and is easy enough to follow. It doesn’t take long to start getting some awesome views, including ones looking down towards the stone-filled bays below.
It won’t be long until you can see the summit in the distance where the track opens up. The last little incline to the summit is the steepest part of the walk, but the panoramic views are worth it!
The return trip takes you back the way you came, or you can duck down onto Whitireia Road and walk along that back to the car park.
5. STREAMSIDE PARK PATHWAYS
- Distance: 2-3km return (depending on when you turn around).
- Difficulty: Easy
For those who need a break from shopping in Porirua, you can walk along the stream/harbour between Wi Neera Drive and Keneperu Drive.
It’s a walk along the footpath on the west side of the Porirua Stream and while it’s not OMG amazing, it’s a nice little walk to break up the shopping. And you do get some nice views of Porirua Harbour.
Feeling hungry? You walk straight past the Get Fixed Cafe which serve amazing bagels, and with outdoor seating is the place to eat in Porirua on a nice day.
Some of these walks look quite alright yea?
I’m guessing I’m not the only one who was surprised by how beautiful the walks on Porirua are! Colonial Knob deserves more love.
Got any questions about these Porirua walks? Drop a message or email jub@churnewzealand.com .
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Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.