This article was published in Tararua Tramper November 2025
Maungakotukutuku loop
MF Wednesday 3 September
We met up at the carpark on Maungakotukutuku Road where the seal ends. The first objective was Mount Titi via the ridge above Pernham Road. After a steep, slippery scramble up the hillside, we arrived at a very pleasant track along the ridge. The only problem was there were tracks diving off so there was some fun map and compass work to ensure we didn’t deviate. Different maps show different old roads/tracks or they don’t show them at all. The nice track morphed into a rutted 4WD road as we approached Titi.
After morning tea at Titi we discovered a nice tramping track that might take us down to Titi Road. It didn’t but raised the question – where does it go? We returned to Titi and took the old road down to Titi Road. This road had had a lot of work done on it and we wondered why. We turned off onto Martins Track. A hand-drawn map that can be found on the Parawai TC website shows numerous routes in northwest Akatarawa – very useful for trip planning. Martins Track led down to the west branch of the Akatarawa and followed it down to the forks. It was an old logging road much abused by 4WD vehicles but deep ruts and mud always had a detour and overall it was quite pleasant and interesting.
The aim was to return to .613 on the main ridge via Hunters Track. After a break for lunch, we found a suitable footpad to climb up onto the spur to .613. It was steep and a good workout but once on Hunters Track, a very nice walk through to .613. We then followed the ridge north to join the main track down from Maunganui and proceeded back to the cars.
It was an interesting day out in good weather. Some people had not done these tracks before. Roughly seven hours. Thanks to Colin Cook and others for providing traces of previous trips. (P M)
Peggy Munn (leader), Robin Chesterfield, Marie Henderson, Chris Munn, Marg Pearce, Sieny Pollard, Mike Voets, Lynne White.