New signage at Totara Reserve

NEW track signage has been installed at the access points to the Fern, Pettifar and Gilchrist walks at Totara Reserve Regional Park.

The detailed signs feature an aerial map and information on the 350ha reserve, as well as points of interest, travelling time and required fitness levels for the Fern Walk, the Pettifar and Gilchrist Loop Tracks and a network of nature trails.

Horizons Regional Council’s Biodiversity and Water Quality Manager, Alistair Beveridge, said the loop track signage would clear up some confusion surrounding the track-naming system that encompassed the Old Coach Road and the former Bush, Link and Titoki Tracks.

He said the loop tracks are named after two enthusiastic volunteers, Mick Pettifar and Neil Gilchrist, who regularly clear the tracks to ensure there is safe access for trampers and other maintenance workers.

Both tracks lead walkers down a series of terraces to the Pohangina River and through kahikatea-dominated forest in the wetter areas and totara-dominated forest in the drier sections. They each take one to two hours to complete.

The Fern Walk, opened in 2000, winds through the most intact part of Totara Reserve, which is noted for being one of the last and largest remaining stands of extensive forest that once covered much of the Manawatu-Rangitikei Plains.

The three to four-hour walk runs past kahikatea stands and nikau palm groves and provides trampers with stunning examples of ancient totara, rimu and rata.

Manawatu District Council Parks and Reserves Manager, Albert James, said the signs showed where the tracks went and how they met up with each other and addressed safety issues such as walk times and suggested fitness levels.

He was also pleased that the invaluable work being carried out by Mr Pettifar and Mr Gilchrist had been honoured.