Wairere Falls, the highest waterfall in New Zealand's North Island,[1] plunges 153 metres (500 feet) in two steps over the Kaimai escarpment.
[1] A walking track runs from the car park at the end of Goodwin Road, up the valley of the stream to a viewing platform, and thence to the top of the plateau and the crest of the falls.
The track is about 5 km (3.1 mi) return to the lower lookout[3] and climbs about 380 m (1,250 ft) from Goodwin Road to the top of the falls.
This part of the Range is formed of Waiteariki Formation, a crystal-rich, welded, dacite ignimbrite.
[13] Ngāti Hinerangi value Te Wairere Falls as the place where an early explorer, Ngahue, killed a moa, to use for food on his voyage back to Hawaiki.