Taupō Point Track

Taupō Point Track is a coastal out-and-back from the Wainui Bay road-end car park to the limestone headland and back. The mapped named track and its shared approach are about 2.5 km each way, or 5 km (3.1 miles) return; the saved line follows the outbound corridor once. Allow about 2 to 2½ hours with a stop at the shore. This is a separate walk from the Abel Tasman Coast Track route to Whariwharangi.

The shoreline passage near Wainui Beach includes an exposed notch and rock shelves. Walk accounts say that section can be covered around high tide. Local descriptions mention an inland high-tide option, but its exact safe alignment is not clear enough to treat as a dependable bypass. Check the tide and confirm the route locally before leaving the beach; do not try to squeeze through the exposed shore on a rising tide. Distance estimates vary with the route taken; the figure here follows the mapped named track, not a beach-only shortcut.

The walk starts beside a carved Māori gateway at the Takapou road end. After roughly 400 metres, take the left branch toward the beach and Taupō Point; the right-hand track climbs Gibbs Hill toward Whariwharangi. The first stretch is described as flat, fine gravel, then gets rougher. Wainui Beach is about 700 metres from the start, an easy shorter turn-around if the tide or rougher coast is not for you.

At low water, the walk can cross the inlet flats and continue around rock shelves, pools and a narrow gap between the hillside and a rock spire toward Uarau Bay. From there, the described route crosses the beach, climbs a low saddle on a steep bush track, then drops to the beach below Taupō Point. Expect uneven footing and some scrambling on this final approach.

The rounded, forested limestone headland is joined to the mainland by a sandy tombolo, with limestone stacks beside it. A pā occupied this point; pits and trenches are now under the forest. Regional history records Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri settlements here, and karaka are described as descendants of trees planted as a food source. The point’s shape and rock stacks are the walk’s distinctive finish.

Use the Department of Conservation car park at the Wainui road end on McShane Road. Dogs are not allowed in Abel Tasman National Park. No food or drinking-water service was found in the route information; bring what you need before you leave the road end.