Billygoat Circuit

From the road end car park, walk to the swing bridge to cross the Kauaeranga River. Take the first track on your right which leads you for 5 minutes to Billygoat Landing. Here you see good views of the Billygoat Falls (180 m high). Follow the track to the Webb Creek – Moss Creek junction. Follow the Webb Creek Track to Hydro Camp (1 hr 30 min – 2 hr). From the Hydro Camp junction, take the Billygoat Track where a steady 30 minute climb leads to a saddle with excellent views down the Kauaeranga Valley to the Hauraki Plains. A little further on, a knoll overlooks the Billygoat Basin. The first attempt to log this basin was made in the 1880s but was abandoned within a few years as driving logs down the Billygoat Falls proved too destructive. The basin was successfully logged in the 1920s after the construction of the Billygoat incline to bypass the falls, and the use of a steam hauler. Dropdown into Billygoat Basin and cross a bridged stream before passing through Billygoat Basin Campsite. A few minutes further on, a 50 m side track overlooks the site of a collapsed long trestle bridge, once part of the bush tramline. The trestle was 160 m long and 11 m above the ground at the highest point. Back on the main Billygoat walking track, pass the junction for the Tarawaere and Hihi tramping tracks and follow the tramline through deep cuttings past two short trestles. Near the hauler site at the top of the incline there are good views of Billygoat Falls (180 m). From here it is another 40 mins downhill to the Kauaeranga Valley Road which requires crossing the Kauaeranga River to the Tarawaere car park. Walk 300 m north along the road to get back to the road end car park. For a longer day or overnight walk, continue on the Kauaeranga Kauri Trail (Pinnacles Walk) . Note that parts of Billygoat Circuit are steep, unformed and extremely slippery. There is an unbridged river crossing at the bottom of the track which may be uncrossable depending on weather.