A great introduction to packrafting can be had by camping at Mohaka River Farms or Glenfalls on the Napier Taupo Road (SH5) and running the easy Class I /II sections. On the subsequent days the Glenfalls to Everetts run steps up the difficulty to Class II. It’s got a consistent flow right through the year and will have water when everywhere else is bony.

As of November 2024 Glenfalls is in a post Cyclone Gabrielle mess. There are no toilets but some camping is possible. Hopefully DOC will upgrade the site and re-instate toilets. Mohaka RIver Farm is a fantastic location to stay – formerly Mountain Valley Lodge – it has A frame cabins, a bunkroom and lots of camping. There’s also a small conference room.

By Road
Drive 4km up McVicar Road to the Bridge. Walk down the 4wd track to the river put-in on river right. Or, for a longer trip, head to the end of Mc Vicars to Mohaka River Farms. The 7km section below Mohaka River Farms is a similar character to the run described here – just watch out for willows which are quite prevalent near the bridge to Mohaka River Farm and below.

To get to the take-out drive down Waitara road, off SH5, about 8km to Glenfalls. From Glenfalls continue 5km to Auroa Road on the left and descend through the pines to Bridget’s Clearing. The run used to end at Everetts but a slip has closed the access road. You can still walk and camp there. Now the run ends at Bridget’s Clearing where there is also camping but currently no toilet.

On the Water
The river is easy Class I with occasional Class II rapids through a deeply incised channel. Willows are prevalent and can present hazards for learners. It’s a really cruisy run.

It is 12km from the SH5 Put-in down to Glenfalls. (It’s 19km in total if you start at Mohaka Farms camping area).

From the Glenfalls campsite to Bridget’s Clearing campsite is about 11km (allow 3.5hrs ). There is a great play-spot at the downstream end of the campground (“Camp Corner Rapid”) and also about a kilometre downstream (“Holey Heck”)- note unofficial names are used in this writeup to help identify them). After the Waipunga Confluence watch out for willows river left and in the channel river right a little further on. After this there is a big oxbow shaped bend. Halfway around the bend the geology changes to highly sheared greywacke that has formed a unique landform known as the Organ Pipes. This is followed by a large active slip delivering pine trees into the river.

A kilometre on is a great wave train to practice throw roping and whitewater swimming (“Swimmers Chute)” but be wary of log hazards from the slip. The biggest rapid (“Last Rapid” II to II+) is around the next corner before the Bridget’s Clearing campsite. Allow 3.5 hours from Glenfalls or an hour more if playing on the eddy roundabouts.

Gauge

The gauge is here – any flow above 10 cumec is fine.