Take a walk in the gardens, or a hike in the bush, pack something to cook on the barbie, wander the plant collections, enjoy the birds, see what’s flowering, or join a Trust guided tour – we just love showing off Ōtari!
Main entrance and car park: 150 Wilton Road, Wilton.
Northern entrance and car park: opposite the end of Blackridge Road.
Getting here: drive, bike or walk, or take the Number 14 (Wilton) bus from the city. It’s an approximately 15 minute journey by car from Wellington city centre to Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. Route | Map
Please, no bike riding in Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush. Dogs are welcome on a leash only!
Want to know more about the special plants and fauna living here at Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush? Our annual programme of guided walks can help. In the 2023 programme, we learned a lot about fungi, native orchids, insects, birds, how plants defend themselves, and how we can deal to weeds. This programme finished in mid-May. We’ll leave you with some visual memories, while we scurry off to plan next year’s adventures. Watch this space!
Each year Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush Trust hosts a seminar series featuring specialists in their fields. We’ve now been doing this for 20 years! In our 2023 programme we learned some weird and wonderful things; we met some special native skinks and geckos, we learned about the weeds we need to weed, the fruit size of tawa berries in relation to climate change, and the taxonomic naming of New Zealand forget-me-nots. We’ll post the 2024 programme here, just as soon as it’s confirmed. Meanwhile, we’ll leave you with some stars from 2023.
Myosotis pygmaea. Photo: © Carol West
Northland Green Gecko. Photo: © Reino Grundling
The Trust organises regular . Many focus on themes and are led by specialists in their field. Some examples: finding our fungi, discovering our glow worms, growing native plants, predators and how we are controlling them.
Maps, displays and botanic artwork will get you in the mood for appreciating your Ōtari visit. Take your time to learn about Ōtari from the interactive display. Pick up a brochure, and if our volunteer hosts are in attendance during weekends, they have some interesting books you might like to buy, also they’ll love to answer any questions you might have about exploring Ōtari. Our hosts’ hours are 11am to 4pm (summer daylight saving time) and 10.30am to 3.30pm (winter). The visitor centre is open daily 7.30am to 4pm.
Be like a bird, cross the walkway that soars 18 metres above the forest floor. Look directly into the tree tops. Look out for the birds, kererū could be feeding on fruit right beside you. Don’t trip over a forest gecko, they also like to cross the canopy, which leads from Tāne Whakapiripiri to the Cockayne Lawn and plant collections.
This viewpoint gives perspective to the treasure that is Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush; the myriad plant collections around you, the tall, green forest beyond, the sheer scale of it all, and most likely a kākāriki, or kākā, or tūī flying by. It’s also a place for reflection, to perhaps give a quiet nod of thanks to Dr Leonard Cockayne, who rests here with his wife Maude, beneath the memorial stone in the coastal garden.
More than 1200 plant species, hybrids and cultivars are set out in families, groups and specially created habitats to replicate their natural environments. Check out the fernery, alpine garden, hebe and flax cultivars, and much more. The collections sprawl over five hectares, connected by gentle, meandering pathways and all close to the main entrance. Pick up a brochure from Tāne Whakapiripiri.
Explore this self-guided tour that starts at the Fernery (near the main car park) and ends at the Cockayne Lookout. It was designed by the late Dr John Dawson, a renowned author/botanist and founding Trust member. Pick up a brochure from Tāne Whakapiripiri.
Probably the most popular spot in all of Ōtari-Wilton’s Bush, the lawn is great for picnics and birthday parties, splashing in the stream or just relaxing in the sun with the forest all around - and usually kererū swooping through. There are barbecues, a shelter and toilets and you can walk in from the main entrance (10 minutes down a bit of a hill) or along the path beside Kaiwharawhara Stream from the northern car park (15 minutes, mostly flat).
‘Moko’ is more than 800 years old and probably the biggest, oldest rimu tree in the whole of Wellington. The track to Moko starts at the Troup Picnic Lawn. In 2022 a more gentle, zig zag route was opened to save your legs and lungs, allow about 20-30 minutes (one way). The platform around Moko was a Trust project, designed to protect the tree’s vulnerable root system from being trampled by visiting humans!