Stream Mokau Stream

Greater watershed Lake Waikaremoana → Waikaretaheke River → Waiau River → Wairoa River → Hawke Bay

Height 37m/121ft according to LINZ

Form A classic "fan", narrow on top and wide at the bottom

Volume Sizeable

General location Te Urewera National Park/whatever will replace Te Urewera National Park when it gets handed back to the Tuhoe next year

Specific location Along the unsealed Murupara-Waikaremoana road. Pretty much unmissable.

Trail access Well, you can see it from the road. If you want more than just a quick snap you can wade up the Mokau Stream from the eponymous campground to the base, though the absence of pictures suggests this may be more complicated than it seems.

Bonus waterfalls Right across from Mokau Falls is a much smaller, more difficult to see waterfall called Tauwhare Falls. You can catch a glimpse of it from the bridge over Mokau Stream & the clear bits of the road further on. It doesn't look like anything special.

 

Mokau Falls is actually one of the nicest and most impressive waterfalls in the Ureweras, but since it's roadside and has no track to the base, most visitors just stop for a quick snap. Due to rain I didn't even bother to get out of my vehicle. The Lake Waikaremoana area is more or less the remotest part of the North Island you can get to by car, so this waterfall really does feel like it's in the middle of nowhere, but even so you'll almost always find at least one other vehicle in the mini roadside pullout halfway between the best view of the fall and the bridge over its stream.

 

This entry is sort of like a placeholder since this is a waterfall I was in the presence of for all of a hundred and twenty seconds. What surprises me is that more people haven't made it down to the base—it's so close to both a major road and a campground, and the bottom of the falls is only a few meters above the lake level. One person who has made it down there is whoever took the following photo for Google Maps - Panoramio link. So it's definitely possible. I'm sure NZ has no shortage of crazy waterfall hunters, so come on guys, the road's not that bad. (yes it is) I wanna see some more photos from the base or just above it, in a variety of water and seasonal conditions, possibly with some of those super-accurate laser measurements. And a blue duck in the background. Is that too much to ask for???