We paid a long over due return visit to this circuit today. I have long recommended that you do not do a full circuit, and that you begin at Mountain Rd Carpark, not the Scenic Drive one. Take the Old Coach Rd track to just past the ranger’s house, then hang a left onto Goodfellow track. (The prolonged and steepish walk up a rough Old Coach Rd track is probably the least attractive part of the expedition, but that out of the way, the rest is paradise.)
The Goodfellow track has to be one of my favourite Waitakere tracks. It has had a major facelift in recent years and apart from a slight trickiness on the second stream crossing, is mostly motorway.
Very few tracks offer the sense of scale that this track provides. It traverses a hugely deep valley, and the views out are just stunning, especially one which looks right out across Auckland City. The vegetation, especially the ferns, is amongst the most varied I have seen. The climb up to Fairy Falls track is nowhere near as fearsome as we might expect from the walk down into the valley, and it’s an easy stroll from there to the top of the steps above Fairy Falls, and a swift (and careful) descent of a million or so steps to the base of the Falls where we stopped for lunch.
Another hour maximum takes us down the stream and finally back up to Mountain Rd where the van is parked. A good stretch, and it misses out the frankly boring section of the full circuit between Goodfellows track and Scenic Drive.