The Treewalk was the dream of German-born and now Rotorua local and general manager of Redwoods Treewalk, Alex Schmid, who was inspired to develop an ecological treewalk after he visited the forest in 2009.

Treewalk Park assistant Karen Mather says the Redwoods Treewalk features a series of suspension bridges and decks, engineered around existing fauna and flora. Ecological engineering means there are no screws, no nails into any of the Redwood trees; instead the trees have technologically-designed slings suspended from the redwood trees.

“Each tree sling is capable of supporting four tonnes and the cables [also attached using slings] have a 12-tonne break rate. There are four wooden blocks around each tree at platform level to stabilise the platform.

Twelve metres up

“The walkways between the platforms go from six metres above the forest floor to a peak height of 12m up,” says Karen.

The walk is open to anyone who can walk unaided – prohibited are prams, wheelchairs and children in backpacks for safety reasons. Any age can enjoy the walk and staff say they’ve had 18-month-old toddler and a 97-year-old gentleman, who both really enjoyed the experience.

Adding to the experience in the treetops there are now 30 lanterns suspended high in the trees and 42 lights on the ground, which illuminate the Redwoods and ferns.

Designed by world-renowned lighting and furniture designer David Trubridge, the lanterns were inspired by New Zealand native birds – the Miromiro (Tomtit), Ruru (Morepork) and Karearea (New Zealand falcon).

Wooden lanterns 

The lanterns are made from a composite timber board, which is made from reject and waste material from the production of acetylated NZ Radiata Pine wood with a 50-plus year guarantee.

Inside each lantern is a white dimmable LED light. The lanterns were built at David’s studio in Hastings, Hawke’s Bay, and sent to site flat-packed and assembled here during two weeks. They are attached to the trees using the same tree sling technology as the treewalk.

“Since the lanterns were put up into the trees night-time visitors have increased considerably,” says Karen.

Within the first year they had 65,000 visitors with 21,000 visitors since January this year when the lanterns were lit up. The walk is open from 9am-11pm.

The eco-tourism walk is the first of its kind due to its unique walkway construction, which uses ecological engineering to preserve the natural maturity of these 110-year-old giants and existing forest plants.

Karen says they have plans for a new spiral staircase entry, designed by David, and they hope to have the new entrance finished later this year.

Location The Redwoods Treewalk is located at Rotorua’s iconic Redwood Forest, 1 Long Mile Road, Whakarewarewa, Rotorua. GPS Coordinates: 38°09’18.97″ S    176°16’32.92″ E.

Safety & Accessibility Accessible for most age groups, from two years old up anyone who can walk unaided can enjoy the Redwoods Treewalk – no prior training or safety harnesses are required.

Walk restrictions

• Visitors must be able to walk unaided.
• Suitable from age two years up – or when they can walk unaided.
• For safety reasons, this is not suitable for parents carrying babies in frontpacks and backpacks.
• Visitors must have a reasonable level of fitness to walk the entire 30-minute journey unaided.

Contact information 

• Visit: www.treewalk.co.nz