Kakaho Campsite — Hotel in North Island

The campsite was pretty good. Lots of free sites when I went and a few long drops around. One was a bit dirty probably from kids dropping toilet paper everywhere.

You don't need a 4WD to go to the campsite, but a car with clearance would probably ideal, especially if you are wanting to make it to the Centre of the North Island, which is about a 20 minute drive past the campsite. Like other people have said the road turns into a dirt/gravel road with a bunch of potholes and uneven ground. I recommend doing the walks up by the Centre of the North Island. Beautiful little spot.

The campsite was good. Nice flat ground with plants all around. Campfires are allowed and there are a few firepits around. I just used my portable pit.

The rimu walk next to the campsite was nice. It is a bit of an incline (heaps of steps).

The only major problem I had though was this group of Indian dudes who decided to have a big party with screaming and extremely loud music. I literally had to move my tent/set up to the other side of the camp to get away from them. Can't really blame the campsite for this though, since inconsiderate people...

Great for a basic campsite, highly recommend if basic is what you are after. Bring everything you need with you, cooking, means for personal hygiene, rubbish bags to pack your rubbish, tent/shelter etc. We initially pulled into the 1st of 3 areas, which was a bit unkempt and underwhelming. We explored the place a bit and found the other 2 areas, all with it's own toilet very nice. In these 2 other areas, the grass was kept short, toilets were clean and they had easy access to the stream for a dip or to collect water. The forest was surprisingly quiet in the evening. We were there in the middle of winter and brought all the firewood we needed for 2 nights. The short walk(45mins approx) of the Rimu Track was lined with old ancient looking massive trees with a couple of bridges over looking the stream. There's a steep incline with stairs leading to a lookout. 5 out of 5 for our experience. Can see this as a nice spot for summer as the stream's water...

The road quickly turns from paved to gravel and then gravel to dirt. The dirt road is full of MASSIVE potholes, which were especially bad when we went after a week of heavy rainfall. The potholes were wide and frequent, so driving this part at a crawl while everyone held on took about 15 minutes. The road was quite literally like Swiss cheese. Wouldn’t recommend taking a low-clearance vehicle out. After rain the lower sites were very soggy but the upper sides were tolerable for tents with ground tarps. Super peaceful campsite, and we got lucky with a clear sky so we saw incredible stars like nothing we’d ever seen before on our travels, bright enough for even a cell phone camera to capture. The stars were well-worth the road and the damp. No cell service after leaving...