Tararua Ranges

The Tararua Range is the long, steep spine of forest, ridges and tops that rises north-east of Wellington. It is the range the club has tramped in more than any other, from its earliest reports to now. Most of it lies in Tararua Forest Park, reached from Ōtaki Forks, Holdsworth, Kaitoke and other road ends on the Kāpiti and Wairarapa sides.

The club's trips here cover a lot of ground: easy and medium weekends to river-flat huts such as Mitre Flats, Totara Flats, Tutuwai and Roaring Stag, family trips, and fit trips along the tops, like the Holdsworth–Jumbo circuit, Mt Hector and the Southern Crossing.

The Tararua weather changes quickly, the tops are exposed to wind and cloud, and the rivers can rise fast after rain. Reports turn up in every month of the year, so the range gets tramped all year round, with the usual care about forecasts and river levels.