Mōkau River

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Mōkau River is a river in the North Island of New Zealand, in the Waikato region and Waitomo District. It starts as a spring in the Pureora Forest, near the Rangitoto Range, south of Te Kūiti. It initially flows northwest, then turns southwest and runs about 158 kilometres to the North Taranaki Bight at the town of Mōkau. The river mouth sits behind a large sandbar; at high tide larger boats can enter, and the river is navigable for about 37 kilometres upstream. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the riverbanks supported logging and coal mining, but those activities declined due to transport costs. Today, the Mōkau River is a popular spot for whitebaiting and kayaking.