When to visit?

When's the best time to come and experience our incredible environment?

We are open every day except Christmas Day - 9.00am to 4.00pm

(we are open later if there is a night tour on)

We run a winter and summer programme for guided tours to make the best of both seasons.

Depending on what you are hoping to see and experience the time of day can make a difference.

Tuatara tend to be more active mid morning and our wetland tour is timed on this basis.
Birdlife tends to be louder in the morning and late afternoon, though can be active throughout the day.
Night tours are the best way to hear the call of kiwi.
And the trees... well the trees are happy for you to arrive at anytime!

Book a tour

FAQs

Interested in our education programme? Questions about lunch options at our Maunga? Find out the answer to the most frequently asked questions!

Location

The Manu Tioriori visitor centre is open from 9:00am to 4:00pm daily (closed 25th December). Entrance to the southern enclosure is available during Manu Tioriori visitor centre opening hours.

Gallery

Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari is all about its native environment and inhabitants! Have a look at some of our birdlife and spot a takahe during your visit!

What our visitors say

I loved going here. It's a little piece of calm. Staff are welcoming and helpful.

Carlos

Great experience and wonderful staff so friendly and helpful. The bush and birdlife are amazing, have to go back to do the wetland tour to see the tuatara.

Gary Chapman

Wonderful experience seeing tuatara on a wetland tour. Southern Enclosure surrounded by native trees, bush and birds soothes the soul.

Desley McFarlane

An awesome project done solely by the community. Many thanks! Our friend from Switzerland and we hiked for more than 6 hours on parts of Te Tonga and Werere Traverse tracks and encountered many beautiful birds and scenery. After the hike, we had a rest at the visitor center with a great view and...

Jeffrey Ke

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)

Saw kaka, robin, saddleback, fantail and other birds. There was bird activity even though it was raining. I love the 'jurassic park' style forest, 500yr+ old trees and informative signs. The viewing tower is great. I think if you stay up there long enough you will always see something....

Elise Cooper

We absolutely love visiting Maungatautari, we have been several times over the years, often visiting the Southern Sanctuary and once doing the over the mountain hike from very early in the morning. We visited the southern enclosure today and spent six hours watching, walking and photographing...

Nikki Jean

The guides are what makes this so special. We had such a fabulous day!!! The guides were wonderful...we asked lots of questions which they patiently engaged with and gave us SO much information as we trotted around. It was like a nature story book.

Archers Homeschool Group

A beautiful and peaceful place.

Tony Nicholls

All the educators were great. We loved their enthusiasm and patience. Thanks for a wonderful visit. One teacher said it was the most educational trip she has ever been on. Maybe we need to visit again and look at another part of the sanctuary.

Tirau School