Hiking to the Duke's Nose Lookout

Slowly but surely, the most beautiful hikes in New Zealand are showing up on Instagram. I save them all so I can check them out for myself and of course, they’re even better in real life. The most recent hike that I discovered on social media is the Duke’s Nose lookout in Northland, which is accessed by the Wairakau Stream track. The Wairakau Stream track deserves a shout-out as well, but the view from the Duke’s Nose was just breathtaking.

Getting there

The hike is located in Northland, New Zealand. It’s about a 4 hour drive from Auckland central and an hour and 45 minutes north of Whangarei in Totara North. Popular areas to stay at nearby before or after your walk are Taupo Bay , Tauranga Bay or Cooper’s Beach. The carpark at the start of the Wairakau Stream track was barely a carpark, just the end of the gravel road so leave your vehicle locked and take any valuables with you just to be safe. We saw some late arrivals walking up the road so we assumed they had to park much further down.

The Wairakau Stream track

There are two ways to get to the Duke’s Nose lookout. You can either get to the start of the track by water or hike the Wairakau Stream track. The track itself is easy enough, with a short but steep start that takes maybe half an hour through the bush. In a classic Amber move, I forgot to time it. It then winds gently downhill until you reach the stream which was pretty muddy. You then hike for a while along the estuary until you get to Lane Cove Hut in Te Rere Bay. The hike to the hut took me and my partner about two hours one way. This included stops for food and photos, and we were also slowed down by our overnight packs. Apart from the muddy stream crossing, the walk is fairly easy and well walked, though it is not overly well kept.

If you have a boat you could skip the Stream track altogether and just park up near the hut and hike up. But I think in doing that you would miss out on a really beautiful hiking experience.

Lane Cove Hut

Chilling by the water at Lane Cove hut

There is the option to stay overnight in the Lane Cove Hut which is a DOC (Department of Conservation) hut. You can book your stay in advance here. The hut is located next to the water so you can sit on the deck to watch the stingrays in the bay swim past. You can also catch a glimpse of the Dukes’s Nose/Kairara Rocks. 16 beds are split between two large rooms with a couple of extras in the common area, which we took. The bunks are small and basic and in the rooms, there are sets of three pushed together which is why we opted for the beds in the common area. We didn’t cook but it looked like the facilities were basic and there was a sink with running water outside. The bathroom was two stinky long-drops, but you wouldn’t expect much else.

The Dukes’s Nose lookout

We stayed one night in the hut and then got up early to hike to the Duke’s Nose lookout. We left our packs in the hut which made hiking to the lookout much easier. It was only about 30 mins to the top but very steep and I was glad we were doing it fresh. The bushy track takes you up to the base of the rocks where there are a couple of steep climbs. The first is maybe 2.5 metres and had a long steel bar to hold on to. That one was fine. The second one is the same thing, but much higher, maybe 10 metres, and mostly vertical. The rock was bumpy so there were plenty of footholds but it was pretty scary for someone with a fear of heights.

The scary bit on the hike to the Duke’s Nose lookout

Once you’re at the top, the view makes it all worth it. There is a large flat area at the top of the rocks with views of Te Rere Bay, Pekapeka Bay and Waihi Bay with waters as blue as the sky on a clear day. It’s spectacular. We were so glad to walk in the early morning as we didn’t meet anyone else until we got halfway down to the hut.

The lookout is definitely big enough to fit many people and is very safe and sturdy. It’s just a large, flat slab of open rock with plenty of room to walk around. There are no additional safety features though, so make sure to be cautious around the edges.

On the walk back to the car we probably passed 40+ people who were all headed there for the day so it would’ve gotten a bit crowded on some parts of the hike. I definitely would not have wanted to be trying to scale that last vertical ascent with a bunch of people waiting for me to get it over and done with. It was scary enough already!

Have you been to the Duke’s Nose lookout before? Got any other suggestions for a scenic day hike?