Egmont Village: Horse Riding, Nature Trails and History

Egmont Village combines horse riding lessons in the village with stories from its past: a log cabin later served as the first school; the former cheese and butter tradition is also part of its history.

Horse Riding Lessons and Active Pursuits

Egmont Village Riding School offers horse riding lessons for children, teenagers and adults. Options include private and group lessons, as well as holiday programmes. During the school term, private and group lessons and pony rides are available Tuesday to Saturday; the holiday programme runs Monday to Friday during school holidays. If you are travelling with children, you can take the available lesson types and holiday dates into account when planning. The school also caters to teenagers and adults.

Egmont Village School also shares its bike track with the local community. If you would like to include this option in your travel plans, check in advance whether visitors can use the track.

Directions to the Forest Trails

In Egmont Village, signs for the Veronica Loop Track point from SH23 onto North Egmont Road. For the Nature Walk, Ambury Monument Walk and Ngatoro-Waiwhakaiho Loop Track, turn off State Highway 3 onto Egmont Road in Egmont Village; the access road to the visitor centre at the end of the road is also signposted. The North Taranaki Visitor Centre there is the main gateway to Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki, formerly Egmont National Park.

The Veronica Loop Track starts at the visitor centre beyond the turn-off from Egmont Village. It climbs through changing alpine rainforest; an optional detour to a viewpoint offers views of the mountain and as far as the coast. The nearby Connett Loop Track, by contrast, passes through a moss- and lichen-covered forest to a small viewpoint overlooking the mountain. Both tracks combine forest scenery with views, but each has a different emphasis.

The Nature Walk is a family-friendly forest trail that passes Ambury Monument. The Ngatoro-Waiwhakaiho Loop Track is described as a challenging hike through some of the last remnants of Taranaki's lowland forest. This distinction can help you choose the focus of your walk: a trail described as family-friendly on the one hand, and a challenging hike on the other.

Monuments and Local History

The Ambury Monument Walk leads to a monument to mountaineer Arthur Ambury. He died on 3 June 1918 during a heroic rescue attempt to save William Edwin Gourlay, after Gourlay slipped on ice. The monument gives the walk a specific historical dimension that extends beyond the forest scenery.

The village's history can also be traced through individual landmarks: Egmont Village's log cabin was later used as the village's first school. Food production is another aspect of its history. The Olson family in Egmont Village was known for homemade cheese and butter until 1892. Both add stories about village life to the walking trails.

Nearby, the York Loop Track tells another story of the past. It runs partly along the former Egmont Branch Railway Line, built in 1901 to supply road-building materials and stone for Port Taranaki. Quarry operations ended in the late 1920s. Along the track, traces remain of former barracks and houses, as well as the site of an old crusher with a large retaining wall. Nature trails and traces of the region's former work sit side by side.

Garden Visits and Accommodation Planning

Egmont Downs is a garden in Egmont Village and a seasonal listing in the programme; it is listed as a “Returning Garden”. Check current opening dates and visitor arrangements before travelling. When choosing where to stay, you can also distinguish between activities in the village and trail destinations nearby: riding lessons take place in Egmont Village, while the walking trails mentioned can be reached via signposted access roads. You can use this to guide your search according to whether horse riding, forest scenery or historical discoveries will be the focus of your stay.

Discover more destinations: New Plymouth, Hillsborough, Oakura.

For the broader travel overview: New Plymouth District.