Walk #183, 5th January 2026

The Kahuterawa Valley is located near Palmerston North in the foot of the Tararua Ranges.

We walked the Sledge track in the Kahuterawa Valley with our friend who knows the area. He was very keen to go as far as we could.

Having now walked the track, if you’ve only got a couple of hours I recommend only going as far as the Arapuke Swing Bridge.

From the swing bridge it’s all uphill on a ridge with no views. That part of the track is called “the Elevation.” There are no helpful signs on this section, just a hand-painted sign in red saying “2.8.kms to B.B.”

We had no idea what that stood for, it could have been “Black Bridge,” but that was back the way we came! Further up we came to a fork, which could have been the Toe Toe Junction, leading to some platinum ore mines from the late 1800s and early 1900s. With no signage we didn’t know where or how far it was. We carried on uphill for another 15 minutes and met some people coming back from the platinum mines – which we didn’t have the time budget for, so we went back the way we came.

The track is semi-maintained. I give it three stars because of the lack of signage and bush bashing.

Walk: Manawatu 25

Links

Palmy: Sledge Track and Harding’s Park loops

History

One of the earliest European owners of the land was the Wellington – Manawatu Railway Company, which named the area the Fitzherbert Block.

The valley was also known for platinum prospecting starting around 1875, although commercial mining was never established.

There are places on the track named after the first european settlers.
Bush Section in the Kahuterawa Valley
Montage of Kahuterawa Valley Life