Lake Ohia Gum holes

Lake Ohia Gumfield Track

Access From the Twin Coast Discovery Highway (S.H.10), turn onto Inland Road and drive 2 km to a small roadside parking area. The start of the track is clearly signposted.

The Track This easy 0.3 km out-and-back trail takes about 5 minutes return. The metaled path is flat and even, looping through thick tea-tree scrub that grows close to the track. It’s ideal for a quick walk, birdwatching, or hiking, and you’re unlikely to encounter many other people.

European History & Kauri Gum This area was once a major kauri gumfield. Gum diggers probed the ground with long spears to locate buried gum, then dug it out with spades or hooked it up from deep below. In many places they had to dig pits, as successive kauri forests had grown on top of each other over thousands of years.

The gum was preserved in the anaerobic (oxygen-free) waterlogged peat soils, maturing into rich amber-coloured resin. It was highly prized and exported for use in high-quality varnishes, paints, linoleum, adhesives, and even some medicines and inks.

In 1900, Lake Ohia was drained to expose more gum-bearing land.

Workers discovered giant eels (up to 200 mm thick) and ancient kauri stumps dated at around 40,000 years old.

A large village sprang up around the gumfields, complete with a store run by the Urlich family (their name lives on in local road names).

Diggers lived in basic thatched “humpies” made from jute sacks over tea-tree frames and frequented numerous grog shops.

The industry reached its peak before World War I.

By the 1920s, farming had largely replaced gum digging in the area.

This short, easy trail offers a peaceful insight into the fascinating gum digging era, just a short drive off the Twin Coast Discovery Highway near Kaitaia, Northland.