Best Kid Friendly Trails in New Zealand

Either way you take this hike, clockwise or anti clockwise it is spectacular. You’ll have to check the tides as you cannot pass the beach side at high tide without getting wet as. There is a gnarly staircase at either end that will burn the legs up but the views from the top are worth it. Great trail took me about 90 minutes

Great trail. First half is way more interesting than second half.

Pleasant flat walk along the river if you have a little time to spare in Arrowtown. Plenty of shade for warmer days. Plenty of sand-flys too so put repellant on.

We just did the trail back down into Queenstown as we had time to spare. Steeper than expected and quite challenging in places. Toes ended up squished into the front of my boots. Shady on a hot day which was nice, but a large part of the walk is in the trees, so limited views (but they are great at the top). Saw a few wild goats. You cross over the mountain bike track in a couple of places - fun to watch but stay well out of the way.

I loved this trail! Note there’s no bathrooms or water. I recommend going early if it’s a warm day. The views are incredible. Bring a hat, water, sunscreen, and prepare for plenty of stairs and enjoy!

Very nice hike. No technical skills required but it is a bit steep. Shade keeps you cool(ish). Well worth the effort!

It's not easy finding walks you can do with dogs in the Waikato, so when I read about Lake Ngaroto I was happy we can take the dog a decent length to wear him out. Scenic views of the lake. The walk is a series of boardwalks, bush or gravel paths. Very peaceful and loved the bird songs.

Easy hike, mostly flat. First 2.5km is open gravel track, then you cross the bridge into well covered bush. Great sign posting.

Very crowded. Otherwise awesome

A trail that seems to have good accessibility - suitable for kids and kids in prams, and maybe wheelchairs? Not a lot of cover from the elements. A good distance /circuit for a quick walk or run. We enjoyed listening to the Te Ara Wai recordings for Ngā Roto (see the signs / QR codes).

Very easy trail, but great views and definitely worth it if you are in the area. Loved the suspension bridges. Rooms us 2 hours total, and we took a break at the lake at the end. Views at the end not that great, but we loved the views of the mountains throughout the rest of the trail. Tons of people on the track given how easy it is, but we left around 3:30 pm in the afternoon and we had parts of the trek to ourselves. Wouldn’t recommend leaving between 9am - 1pm during high season as it seems it could be overrun.

Easy hike with moderate incline at beginning. About half has no shade. No bugs. Great views of Wanaka. About 1.5 hours at easy pace.

This trail is awesome. Very little effort for huge reward. Pretty much flat all the way. We went late afternoon and it wasn’t too busy. We went 45 in 45 back. Felt so quick, maybe because we’d done Roy’s Peak the day before. The views are awesome from the kick off. Had a lovely paddle in the glacier water when we reached the lake which also still had ice melting. The bridges are cool too.

FYI, Routeburn road is closed so I believe this trail is inaccessible at the moment :(

“Yep, there’s a big hole there” Amazing views of coastal hills covered in sheep!

No gps. Very short walk to some very popular falls.

Only recorded 1/3 of the hike. Recording stops at the falls.

Beautiful short hike with some great views. Track is well maintained with plenty of signage. Well worth the $10 to get an opportunity to hike on private land.

One of the coolest hikes I’ve done. Did it in about 2.5 hours with 20 wk pregnant spouse. Took lots of rests on the way up. There were some areas where we had to scramble up tree root steps, and we were lucky it was dry or we wouldn’t have been able to make it up. Very neat mine shaft. A bit spooky and pretty neat to turn off the flashlights 3/4th through and see a few glow worms. We did it in the afternoon and there was quite a bit of sun and little shade in the first mile, which is all uphill. Downhill through the forest is beautiful, but again, we would have been in trouble had it been wet given how steep it was in some places. Saw two other couples out on a weekday afternoon, otherwise it felt quite remote. Had someone else come through the mine shaft at the same time as us, I probably would have been terrified. Trail is marked. When you get to Puketui Valley car park (just past the campground which will be on your left), park and walk through the boot cleaning station. Walk down and on your right turn into the little trail to see a pretty waterfall and pool. Then go back and continue forward across the foot bridge and take the first trail up going to the right marked Main Range Track. This will be your initial climb for a mile. Take Collins drive track when you get to the next signpost to get to the mine shaft. We took the water race track return (there is a sign) to the path by the river/car park. I think Water Race Track might be a little more steep than if you return via the Third Branch Track (which looks longer on the map).

Forgot to start my tracker. But holy cow this is an amazing stop!!!! We went out around 730 pm and were the only ones on the trail.

Petrified trees creating tide pools plus a forest garden walk

this is a great walk with awesome views and well maintained track. reccomend it

Just stunning! Very well kept and loved track.

Nice trail with quite steep ascend to Mt John. Lot's of people at the summit but the trail itself is not that crowded