Twelve secret spots worth the detour on a New Zealand road trip

Almost every one of these sits within an hour of a road you were probably driving anyway. Most take between twenty minutes and three hours on foot. None of them need a booking, a guide or special gear beyond decent shoes and a rain jacket.

North Island

Castlepoint, Wairarapa

Fifty minutes east of Masterton and the road simply stops at the sea. A lighthouse on a headland, a lagoon, and Castle Rock standing 162 metres out of the water behind it. The cliff-top walk around the scenic reserve takes about half an hour return and fur seals often haul out on the rocks below — give them room. Dark skies here too, if you stay the night.

Marokopa Falls, Waikato

Forty minutes west of Waitomo on the road out to the coast. A twenty-minute return walk through native bush ends at a platform facing a 35-metre curtain of water — one of the better-looking waterfalls in the country and usually nearly empty. Pair it with the caves and you have a full day out of Hamilton or Taupō.

Te Waihou Walkway and the Blue Spring, Putāruru

The water here is filtered through volcanic rock for decades before it surfaces, which is why it looks unreal — properly transparent, a pale blue you will assume has been edited. Access is off Leslie Road from Whites Road. Allow an hour and a half return from the main car park. Swimming is not allowed; the spring supplies drinking water.

The East Cape, Tairāwhiti Gisborne

New Zealand's easternmost point, and the long coastal road between Ōpōtiki and Gisborne is the actual attraction. Empty beaches, tiny settlements, and at Te Araroa a pōhutukawa reckoned to be the largest in the world — roughly 20 metres high, 40 metres across, and centuries old. Give the loop a full day, not an afternoon.

Te Urewera

Between the Bay of Plenty and Hawke's Bay, and about as remote as the North Island gets. Ancient forest and Lake Waikaremoana, with the three-to-four-day track around it, five huts and five campsites, all booked ahead. If you only have a day, the climb to Panekire Bluff and the walk in to the 22-metre Korokoro Falls are both worth the drive in.

Kāpiti Island

Five kilometres off the coast north of Wellington and one of the country's oldest predator-free sanctuaries. Boats leave from Paraparaumu and the crossing takes around twenty minutes. Permits and boat spaces are limited and go early — book before you plan the day around it. Expect birds that walk right up to you.

New Chums Beach and Driving Creek, Coromandel

New Chums is reached only on foot, over rocks at the north end of Whangapoua and then through bush — about half an hour each way, tide dependent, and there is nothing built on it at all. On the other side of the peninsula, the narrow-gauge railway at Coromandel Town climbs through regenerating forest to a lookout, which is a good wet-weather option.

South Island

Kura Tāwhiti / Castle Hill, Canterbury

Ninety minutes from Christchurch on the road to Arthur's Pass. Hundreds of limestone boulders scattered across tussock, some 30 metres high, and a twenty-minute loop among them. It is a wāhi tapu — a sacred site — for Ngāi Tahu, and the tiny native buttercups underfoot are protected. Look, photograph, take nothing.

Ōmārama Clay Cliffs

Eroded pinnacles and narrow ravines that look like they belong somewhere much drier and much further away. Fifteen minutes from Ōmārama on gravel, on private land, with a small vehicle donation at the gate. Best in the last hour of light. The hot tubs in town afterwards are a fair reward.

Blue Pools, Makarora

On the Haast Pass highway between Wānaka and the West Coast. Roughly an hour return on a flat 3km track through beech forest, over swing bridges, to glacier-fed water so clear you can watch trout hanging in it. Easy enough for almost anyone and a perfect leg-stretch on a long driving day.

Lake Marian, Fiordland

Off the Milford road in the Hollyford Valley. Around three hours return, steeper and rougher than the others here, ending at an alpine lake ringed by peaks. The first ten minutes to the waterfall boardwalk is worthwhile on its own if you are short of time. Check the Milford road status before you commit.

Mount Crichton Loop, Queenstown

While everyone else queues at Roys Peak, this loop follows Twelve Mile Creek through beech forest past a waterfall, an old gold-mining tunnel and Sam Summers Hut from 1930. Around two to three hours, twenty minutes from town, and it is the walk locals actually do.

Tunnel Beach, Dunedin

Fifteen minutes from the Octagon. A short, steep track down sandstone cliffs to a hand-carved tunnel cut in the 1870s so a family could reach their private beach. Under an hour return, brutal on the way back up, and dramatic in any weather. Closed during lambing each spring.

Getting to places like these

• Several are on gravel or single-lane roads. Slow down, pull left for oncoming traffic and expect no phone coverage.
• Check doc.govt.nz for track closures and journeys.nzta.govt.nz for road status the morning you go, not the week before.
• Fill the tank in the last real town. Ōpōtiki, Wairoa, Makarora and Ōmārama are the ones people misjudge.
• Tell someone where you are going if you are heading into Te Urewera or the Hollyford.
• Take your rubbish out, stay on the track and keep clear of seals and nesting birds.

If a place is a two-hour round trip off your route and you are already tired, that is exactly the kind of leg worth handing over. Our day tours run to most of these from the nearest city, and you can add a stop on the day if you spot something on the way — the only fixed points are where you start and where you finish.