Maungatautari Treetop Tower. Waikato. NZ.
S 38° 03.208 E 175° 34.017
60H E 374270 N 5787283
Maungatautari’s newly-completed
viewing tower, built in tall bush in the
Southern Enclosure, is not only providing
visitors with a superb series of views of
the forest – it has also been recognised
as a structure of national significance.
Waymark Code: WM3JD4
Location: New Zealand
Date Posted: 04/11/2008
Views: 51
Building of the viewing structure at the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust began in May 2006, and a team of seven volunteers, worked on the project for the next five months. Most of the volunteers were retired farmers or builders from around the mountain, and together they put in more than 1000 hours of labour to get the job done.
The tower, designed and built to represent the growth structure of a giant rata vine, has seven viewing platforms on its spiralling staircase, with the topmost platform as a triangle and able to hold up to 20 viewers. It nestles in among a stand of 800 year old 40-metre high rata trees, which help it blend with the surroundings, and is located a 15-
minute walk from the entrance to the Southern Enclosure at the end of Tari Road at Pukeatua.
For safety purposes, the tower has been specially designed so there is not enough room on it to become overloaded. But the recommended number is not more than 20 people on the top viewing platform. Viewers are able to feel the structure moving when they’re on the top deck, and wind movement in the tree-tops may also give the illusion of additional movement, but it has been designed this way, and movement is quite normal.
The tower was completed in October 2006 officially opened at the end of November 2006. Posing for photographs recently against one of the rata, world renowned conservationist, David Bellamy, remarked it was a magical site and he was delighted by the idea of getting visitors up amongst the forest canopy.
Height of Look-Out Tower in feet: 52.00
Difficulty: 
Opening times and fees:
Open during Daylight hours.
Parking Area: S 38° 03.349 E 175° 33.675
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Visit Instructions:
Please log only if you have been up there and you must include a photo of the scenic view from the top.