DOGS are valued members of many New Zealand households and the Department of Conservation wants to make sure none get into trouble this summer by going where they are not allowed.
DOC science advisor Laura Boren said getting out and adventuring with dogs was a great way to stay active and enjoy summer, but it needed to happen responsibly.
The most common compliance issue in summer months DOC rangers have to deal with is poor behaviour involving dogs, such as them attacking wildlife or people, or being where they aren’t supposed to be.
Information is available on the DOC website about where dogs are allowed. Each activity listing on doc.govt.nz includes information about if dogs are permitted, and results can be filtered by “dogs allowed.”
Rules can vary by region, so it is best to check before departing for a destination, Laura said.
Infringement fines can range from $200 to $800 or a court prosecution, depending on the offence. In some cases where dogs have attacked native wildlife, courts have ordered the dogs to be put down.
“Nobody wants that to be part of their summer,” Laura said. “A bit of preparation can go a long way to keeping everyone safe this summer.” So where in the King Country can you take your pooch with you?
There are several DOC-managed walking tracks in the King Country where dogs are allowed, but all require the dog to have a permit.
In the Pureora Forest, the Centre of the North Island Walk is a 500m, 10-minute flat return track to the geographic centre of the North Island, which is marked with a cairn.
Mt Titiraupenga Track is a continuation of the track from the cairn and takes about a four-hour return trip to complete.
The 6.4km advanced tramping track takes walkers to a lookout point just below the summit of Mt Titiraupenga.
The summit is a Māori taonga and must not be climbed by tourists.
Dogs are allowed with a permit on the shortest track to the top of Mt Pureora, accessed from Link Rd.
Pureora Forest is also home to the Hauhungaroa Track which sees trampers take three days to traverse the Hauhungaroa Range.
The first leg of the trip is three-and-a-half hours to the Bog Inn Hut.
The second and third legs of the journey take eight-and-a-half and seven hours each wwith opportunities for rest at Waihaha Hut and Hauhungaroa Hut.
The final stretch is two-and-a-half hours to Mangakahu Valley Rd, to make a total walking length of 45km one way.
A five-hour walk on the Ketemaringi Route sees trampers walk a 10.7km one-way expert-level route in Pureora.
There are two tracks to Leitch’s Hut in the Whareorino Conservation Area. The hut stands at the site where World War I soldier Sam Leitch’s home was positioned.
Leitch was awarded the isolated farmland, now part of the wider Whareorino Forest in land lottery ballots after the war.
Remnants of his plantings, mainly macrocarpa and elaegnus, are still in place. The shortest path to the hut, Leitch’s Track, is a six-hour and 17km return trip on a well-graded former surveyed road.
The longer trail, Mangatoa Track, is an eight-hour and 16km return trip which gradually climbs the Herangi Ridge.
Three tracks in the Tawarau Forest west of Waitomo Caves, which are all between two and four hours long, allow dogs with a permit.
DOC describes amazing limestone bluffs, beautiful ferns and the small falls of water along the track making the Tawarau Falls Loop Track a memorable place.
The Double Falls Track offers an opportunity to check out giant oyster fossils in the limestone outcrop and a second waterfall.
Waitanguru Falls Track is a well-graded and stepped 200m trail down to a viewing platform that looks out to a magnificent tiered waterfall.
Just 11km away from Waitanguru Falls is Mangaotaki Walk, a gentle 800m loop which winds its way over tree roots and passes many boulders along the way as well as a gnarly old tree and towering kahikatea laden with epiphytes.
Four conservation campsites in the King Country allow dogs.
They are Arohena Campsite on the western shores of the Waikato River, Kakaho Campsite near a stream and dense podocarp forest in Pureora Forest Park, Piropiro Campsite marking the mid-point of the Timber Trail, and Pokaka Mill Campsite in the Ruapehu area.
