Rangituhi/Colonial Knob Walk

This track is part of Te Araroa Trail . There are three routes up to Rangituhi/Colonial Knob, offering a loop walk taking from three to five hours. One starts at the Broken Hill Road carpark (at Spicer Botanical Park). This is the more scenic route taking you into the Rangituhi/Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve, past the man-made lakes which once supplied water to Porirua Hospital, and through Kohekohe forest. You can also get up from Raiha Street through the Porirua Scenic Reserve, and from Raiha Street up the gravel Farm Road to the radio station. Take in the views from the top of this 468 metre high hill rising to the west of Porirua City. On a clear day you can view many other high points from the Inland Kaikoura Range in the south to Mt Taranaki in the north-west. Towards the north it's possible to see as far as Waikanae. Southward are the suburbs of Tawa and Johnsonville. Just below is the city of Porirua and its harbour (a unique drowned river valley) stretching out towards Paremata and the Pāuatahanui Inlet. The seaward outlook takes in Kapiti and Mana Islands, and on a clear day the South Island. An Airways New Zealand radio station on Rangituhi/Colonial Knob assists with the radar control of aircraft, through a beacon which checks Hawkins Hill radar in Wellington and Tokomaru/Mount Robertson radar in the South Island.