Sanctuary is but an hour away!
We are located just an hour away from the iconic Hobbiton Movie Set Tours in Matamata, the Waitomo Caves and the Hamilton Gardens!
Location & Directions
Our Manu Tioriori Visitor Centre is open from 9:00am to 4:00pm daily. Last entry to the sanctuary is 4pm. For the health and safety of all, we recommend visitors exit the sanctuary before dark, or join us on a Night Tour. We are open every day except Christmas Day.
Our address is 99 Tari Road, Pukeatua
A friendly warning, if you only enter Maungatautari into your GPS or Google Maps system, it will take you to the wrong side of the mountain... so help Google to be your friend and type in 99 Tari Road, Pukeatua (this is on the southern side of the mountain).
We highly recommend booking a guided tour to get the most of your trip.
In order to retain what makes us so special, we limit the number of visitors to 300 per day, and we recommend booking in advance to avoid disappointment.
We are located approximately:
2.5-hour drive from Auckland
1.5 hours from Taupo
1 hour from Rotorua
1 hour from the iconic Hobbiton Movie Set Tours in Matamata
30 minutes from Cambridge
1 hour from Waitomo Caves
1 hour from Hamilton Gardens
Manu Tioriori Visitor Centre Opening Hours
Our Manu Tioriori Visitor Centre is open daily from 9am to 4pm. Last entry to the sanctuary is 4pm.
Open daily, except for Christmas Day.
Sanctuary Explorer Day passes to the sanctuary, either purchased online or at our visitor centre reception need to be collected from our visitor centre by 4pm. You can still enter the southern enclosure visitor showcase area of the sanctuary using your pass, after 4pm. For your health and safety, we recommend exiting the forest before sunset. Day pass cards can be returned to the visitor centre via an after hours return slot.
Check out our seasonal Guided Tours on offer. All guided tours include a complimentary Sanctuary Explorer Day Pass.
What our visitors say
We were a group of 8, Sue was our guide. Would so recommend having Sue to guide. We would not have noticed or learnt anything by ourselves, noticed birds and plants with understanding the importance of sanctuary. Will be bringing the grandies next.
Helen Bingham
The team are still absolutely buzzing about their time at Maungatautari! We all learnt SO much — about Rongoa, about the forest and how different plants can heal our ailments — but also how the forest as a whole can heal our inner-selves too. Everybody took something of great value...
Huka Honey Hive, Taupo
I wanted to email you and tell you how literally amazing our day was and that we were absolutely blown away by the whole experience. You and your team are fantastic. All of the parents who attended raved about the whole day.
Ohaupo School
A truly spectacular day for me thank you, and trust me I've done some really cool things before but this was right up there. The passion, the pride, the service beyond self and the truly intergenerational and transformational work you and the team have done and are doing is inspirational...
Simon
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Because one THANK YOU is not enough! We felt very honoured and privileged to witness the health check and transfer process of two kiwi yesterday. To be so close to our iconic bird was very surreal for many of our team. Many photos were taken and I'm sure...
Nicola Greenwell
I'm honestly still smiling after my afternoon on the maunga yesterday, so I had to write and thank you SO MUCH. The team is doing extraordinary work with the whole sanctuary, and to see the kiwi team, volunteers, dogs, it was absolutely amazing. It was very moving to see the kiwi close up....
Katy Scoullar
I've hiked many, many forests around New Zealand, but this one hits differently. You just know you're in as native of an NZ forest as it can get, thanks to the predator-proof fence that takes a lot of work and money to maintain. The forest is alive with the beautiful songs of many...
Meggie Tran
A beautiful and peaceful place.
Tony Nicholls
My wife and I live in Miami and visited Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari during a trip to New Zealand a month ago. Our guide was Jenny. We were very impressed with her sincerity as well as your organization and the success of your work.
Anonymous, Miami, USA
If you want to see New Zealand's nocturnal animals, go here. Of course, there are day tours as well as night tours. I went on a night tour and it was great. I was happy to see glow worms, go up to the observatory, and see many stars in the night sky! This is not a zoo, but a conservation...
HyoJin Yang (YY)
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