New Zealand > North Island > Auckland & Northland > Northland Travel Guides > Natural Attractions

Tane Mahuta

Be first to recommend
Sign In or Sign Up to
Be first to review
Sign In or Sign Up to

Best For

Sign In or Sign Up to

Contact Us

Tane Mahuta is New Zealand's tallest Kauri Tree, growing in Waipoua Forest on the northern end of North Island. Its massive smooth, gray-white trunk rises 59 feet before a branch appears.

The gigantic specimen is a remanent of the tremendous ancient subtropical rain forest that once grew there, a survivor of 200 years of intensive logging. By counting rings from felled trees of similar circumference, Tane Mahuta is believed to be 2,100 years old.

The giant Kauri is a kind of primitive pine that belongs to the ancient Araucariaceae Family of trees that were prolific before dinosaurs and the Gondawana super-continent broke up. In far northern New Zealand swamps, kauri trees were discovered preserved under water that grew 30-50,000 years ago.

Tane Mahuta 'God of the Forest'

Details

History: Before Europeans arrived, Kauri Forest covered 4 million acres of New Zealand's North Island. When Captain Cook saw the forests in 1769, he wrote, "The banks of the river were completely clothed with the finest timber my eyes have ever seen..." His excitement attracted European timber men, who brought wholesale destruction to the ancient and majestic kauris. In 150 years, they shrunk to barely 18,420 acres.
History: Late in the 20th century, people began to appreciate Kauri Forests once more. Today, several refuges protect the remaining giants for posterity. In Waipoua Forest, visitors can walk among trees that have grown for 2,000 years to see the best-known gigantic specimen of all: Tane Mahuta-"The Lord of the Forest"-the tallest standing Kauri Tree.