Lake Waikaremoana, 63 kilometres from Wairoa on a winding mountain road, is one of New Zealand's most beautiful lakes — a deep, forest-rimmed crater set in the ancient hills of Te Urewera. The surrounding landscape is the most extensive native rainforest in the North Island, home to populations of kiwi, blue duck, kōkako, and other birds that have become rare elsewhere.
The Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk is one of New Zealand's nine designated Great Walks, a 46-kilometre track typically done in three to four days with overnight stays in huts. The track crosses the Panekiri Bluff — a dramatic ridgeline above the lake — and descends to the shoreline for most of its length. Shorter day walks are also possible from the lake's road end. Book huts well in advance if you plan to do the Great Walk, particularly in summer.