Due to an extremely high dumping of snow in our Waikaremōana region, the Te Urewera Board advises that our Lake Waikaremōana Great Walk and other services are temporarily closed until safer passage can be assured.
The Te Urewera biodiversity team made up of Tūhoe and DOC team members have been assisting trampers and people from snowed in vehicles from yesterday and a helicopter sweep for people still on the track is underway today. Brown Elia, the Lake Waikaremōana Tribal Biodiversity Manager says it has been a few years since Waikaremōana has seen this amount of snow. “Road access is blocked in places, and there is currently one foot of snow at the Waikaremōana Holiday Park, so we expect fallen trees, debri and other hazards will likely exist on the Great Walk and all other tracks within the region.”
State Highway 38 is closed from Onepoto north to Ruatahuna. Drivers are not to try and use State Highway 38/Special Purpose Road 38 as an alternate route to State Highway 1 or 2.
Tāmati Kruger, on behalf of Te Urewera Board says that everybody is working quickly to re-open Waikaremōana for our combined safety and enjoyment, our manuhiri that visit during school holidays are hugely enjoyed by the staff and locals, who come to Waikaremōana especially to be a part of these blustery environs.
