Porter Rock via Moa Park Track

Porter Rock via Moa Park Track is a 7.7-mile (12.4 km) out-and-back from Canaan Downs Campsite. The mapped approach is about 6.2 km to the viewpoint; return the same way. Allow five to six hours with a break. This is a long inland half-day, with a steep, rooty climb and a final clamber over granite, but it gives you two very different payoffs: an open subalpine basin and a coastal view from the rocks. Dogs aren’t allowed on the DOC track.

The track leaves the car park as a farm track along the edge of beech forest, looking over the rolling grassland and limestone outcrops of Canaan Downs. Pages Saddle is about 1 km in. At roughly 3 km, Wainui Saddle has a branch north toward Wainui Hut; stay on Moa Park Track. Past the saddle, the climb steepens up Evans Ridge. Dracophyllum takes over, and its twisted roots make the footing slower. The track dips through two creek gullies before it joins the Inland Track.

A short descent brings you into Moa Park, an open patch of subalpine scrub and tussock around 1,000 m, ringed by beech and mountain cedar. It’s strikingly low for a treeless basin here. Cold air pooling and poorly draining soil are thought to help keep the basin open. The small Moa Park Shelter stands above Table Creek; its bunks have been removed, so think of it as a place to pause rather than an overnight hut.

If you want the basin without the extra spur and rock scramble, turn back here: Canaan Downs to Moa Park is about 10.4 km (6.5 miles) return.

For the full walk, continue along the Inland Track to the signed Porter Rock spur. The route climbs past an unnamed granite high point before turning toward the outcrop. The last approach is over large rocks and takes some clambering. From the top, the granite blocks frame a wide view across Tasman Bay and the Abel Tasman coast when the cloud lifts. The panorama is the reason to keep going; take care on the uneven rock and don’t climb farther than feels secure.

Use the Canaan Downs Campsite car park, also signed for Harwoods Hole Track. From SH60, Canaan Road runs about 11 km to the car park and is narrow, winding and unsealed, so leave time for the drive. The route reaches about 1,000 m and no dependable drinking-water refill was verified en route; plan to carry what you need for the full outing.