Redwoods Treewalk, Altitude and Nightlights
About five minutes from the center of Rotorua, a grove of coastal redwoods rises over Whakarewarewa Forest. You can walk beneath them for free, cross bridges slung between the trunks by day, come back for lanterns after dark or climb higher on a ropes course. This guide sorts out which ticket buys what, and who can join.
A redwood forest on the edge of town
Whakarewarewa Forest begins where Rotorua's streets run out, a short drive from the center, and its most famous corner is a stand of coastal redwoods. These are the same giant trees that grow along the California coast, planted here long ago; the Redwoods listing describes them as 120 years old. In that time they have grown into a grove of red-brown trunks, and walking among them feels a long way from the sulfur steam across town.
Much of the forest costs nothing. A network of free walking tracks and mountain-bike trails runs through it, so you can wander under the redwoods without a ticket. The paid attractions belong to Redwoods Treewalk & Nightlights, and they lift you off the ground in stages, from gentle bridges to a full ropes course called Redwoods Altitude.
The Treewalk by day
The Treewalk is a trail of suspended bridges and platforms strung between the redwood trunks, so you see the forest from among the branches rather than from the path. Compared with Altitude it is the easy option, a walk rather than a ropes course, and it suits visitors who want the view without ziplines or a freefall. Our partner sites sell it only as part of the combo pass described below. If you want the bridges without the climbing, the Treewalk is the one to pick; if you want your stomach to lurch, read on.
Nightlights after dark
Once the sun goes down, the same walk becomes Nightlights. More than 30 lanterns by designer David Trubridge hang among the redwoods, their glow picking out bark and bridges against the dark. It turns a daytime stroll into an evening outing among the trunks.
There is a clash to plan around. Nightlights and the Mitai evening both happen after dark, so you cannot do the two on the same night. Give each its own evening, or see the redwoods by day and keep the night for Mitai.
Redwoods Altitude, higher up
Redwoods Altitude, from ~$82, is the forest seen from the top. Over about two hours you cross 25 suspended bridges that climb to about 82 ft (25 m) above the ground, according to GetYourGuide, while Viator says up to 30 m (about 98 ft). Three ziplines link sections of the course, and anyone who wants one can try a controlled freefall of about 13 ft (4 m), which is optional. The combo listing puts the Altitude loop at about 2,130 ft (650 m), and groups hold about 10 people at most. Reviewers rate it 5.0 from 442+ reviews on Viator and 4.9 from 201+ on GetYourGuide, where it costs about $82 against about $84 on Viator.
The session ends at Redwoods Glowworms, an above-ground eco-cave where living glowworms (Arachnocampa luminosa, the larvae of a fungus gnat found only in New Zealand) shine for the 10–15 minutes you spend inside. It is a calm finish after the bridges, and a way to see glowworms without the two-hour drive to Waitomo; Waitomo glowworm caves from Rotorua weighs up that trip. Light and noise make glowworms dim, so keep the flash off and voices low, and expect the display to vary from visit to visit.
High bridges, then glowworms
Two hours across 25 suspended bridges and three ziplines among the redwoods, from ~$82. An optional freefall waits partway, and the glowworm cave comes at the end. Check the height and weight limits before you book.
Who can climb
Altitude has firm entry rules, and the catch is that they apply whatever your booking says.
- Height. At least about 140 cm (4 ft 7 in);
- Weight. Between 30 and 120 kg (about 66–265 lb);
- Age. Children aged 8 to 12 must be supervised by someone aged 16 or over, per Viator;
- Shoes. Closed-toe shoes only. Sandals and flip-flops stay in the car;
- Meeting point. The Altitude hangar sits at the far corner of the main parking lot, away from the main Treewalk entrance, so allow a few minutes to find it.
A child below the height line or an adult over the weight cap cannot join, so measure before you pay rather than at the hangar. Fear of heights is a softer limit, since the freefall is optional. For younger children, Rotorua with kids sets Altitude against the gentler options in town, and the adventure guide compares it with the Kaituna rafting and the canopy ziplines in an older native forest.
The combo pass
The Redwoods combo pass, from ~$113, is a single GetYourGuide ticket rated 4.9 from 138+ reviews. It bundles Altitude and the glowworm cave with the Treewalk by day and Nightlights after dark. The gap between ~$82 and ~$113 buys the two walks plus a return after dark. Its catch is time. The pass splits into two visits, one by day for Altitude and the Treewalk and one at night for Nightlights, so it takes a long day plus an evening, and everyone on it still has to meet Altitude's height and weight limits. If one of your group falls short, the combo is the wrong ticket for them.
A forest day and a Mitai night
The Redwoods and Mitai are both a short drive from the center, which makes them an easy pair. Spend the morning or early afternoon on Altitude or the Treewalk, rest at your hotel, then catch the pickup for the Mitai cultural evening and hāngī dinner, from ~$96. Its guided bush walk passes glowworms on the way to Te Puna Tapu o Tūhoe, the sacred spring. That makes two sightings in one day, the first in a cave and the second beside a spring.
If the bridges leave your legs stiff, a soak at the lakeside pools sorts that out; our hot pools guide compares the options. Two or three days in Rotorua slots the Redwoods into the second afternoon, after a morning at the steaming valleys covered in Rotorua's geothermal parks compared. Bring a light jacket even in summer, since the shade under the redwoods stays cool.