Orongomai Reserve is a loop walk through native forest on the Port Hills, starting and finishing at the Sign of the Bellbird in Kennedys Bush, off Summit Road in Tai Tapu. The website gives the walk as 1 hour 15 minutes return, and says toilets are at the Sign of the Bellbird. The track zigzags down through bush to a stream, then climbs beside a second stream past large totara and mātai trees, through kanuka forest. The website says the lower part of the reserve has some of the best accessible forest on the Port Hills. It also links to Plan My Walk for track alerts and weather forecasts.
Visitors describe the scenery as beautiful, the bush as lovely and the walk as quiet and scenic, including the stretch along the crater lake. One visitor who walked the Crater Rim Walkway wished the route from the Sign of the Bellbird to Coopers Knob was better marked, and advises staying on the path up through the rock. Our pick on the Port Hills for a short bush loop with views.