The Wairere Falls plunge from the Kaimai escarpment fifteen kilometres east of Matamata, on the road towards the Bay of Plenty. From the car park, an hour's walk through regenerating native bush brings you to a lower viewing platform with a head-on view of the falls; a steeper hour's climb above that reaches the top, where the stream flattens out and runs across the plateau before the drop.
The track is well graded and surfaced where it matters, but the upper section is steep — allow four hours return at a steady pace. The view from the top extends across the entire Waikato plain to Mount Pirongia in the distance. Best in late winter and spring when the water flow is strongest; in dry summers the falls can almost disappear.