Hutt City & Upper Hutt

Eastern Hills - Wainuiomata Fire Breaks

The Eastern Hills run from Upper Hutt to Wainuiomata. The tracks at the top are wide firebreaks, offering stunning views, but are exposed to all weather conditions and can be very hot in summer. They are wide, clay tracks which are very steep and rutted in places. They are shared use; walkers, cyclists, horses, and in some places vehicles.

ECNZ Main - Towai Trig point (approx 1 hour)

Easy 4WD track. Runs from Summit Rd to Wainouimata Rd. The Towai Trig offers stunning views. Connects with many of the Eastern Hills tracks. Horses cannot access from Wainouiamata Rd, use Summit Rd or other access.

UPPER FITZHERBERT TRACK

15 mins one-way MODERATE Accessed from Wainuiomata, this walking and mountain biking track passes through gorse and regenerating native forest before joining the ECNZ Track.

KONINI FIREBREAK

one hour one-way HARD 4WD track leads to the reservoir before winding up to the ECNZ Track. This challenging track is popular for horse riding, walking and mountain biking with good views of Wainuiomata and the Hutt Valley.

SUMMIT ROAD FIREBREAK

40 mins one-way HARD Steep in places as you climb to the ECNZ Track. Well used by runners, walkers and cyclists, track enjoys great views of the Hutt Valley

Parking

Parking is difficult. There is no entry or parking on the Wainouiamata Rd end.

• Summit Rd, possibly room for 1 horse float to park on the left hand side of Farrelly grove (or turnaround)

• 193 Whites Line East, Lower Hutt is the entrance to Te Whiti Park. Do not ride on the park, but ride on the entrance road (driveway) around the park past the buildings and find the Te Whiti Riser entrance onto the firebreak trails.

The best parking and entry looks like off Judd Rd or surrounds, but this would need some clearance of the entry to get a horse through. The tracks look clear but getting in off the road (where parking would be fine) needs a couple of hours with a pruning saw.