Moehau Range

The Moehau Range is the northernmost range on the Coromandel Peninsula, extending from the settlement of Colville northwards to the tip of the peninsula. Mount Moehau is the highest point of the range, at 892m above sea level.

The Moehau Range is the central feature of the Colville Ecological District. Environment Waikato's local area planting guide describes the area as "long ridges and steep streams radiating out to the coast, steep and broken hillslopes, floodplains, harbours and estuaries." The Colville Ecological District takes in 77,201 ha, 59% of which is in indigenous vegetation, and 8% of which is virgin forest.

Mt Moehau is sacred to the Marutūahu tribes of Māori. Many important chiefs, including Tama-te-kapua of Te Arawa, are buried on its summit. The full name of the mountain is Te Moengahau-o-Tamatekapua (the windy sleeping place of Tamatekapua).

The Moehau Range is considered one of New Zealand’s six 'biodiversity hot spots'. The Moehau peak contains a selection of indigenous vegetation that is unique for a North Island forest, and is home to silver and pink pine, kaikawaka, sweet hutu (Ascarina sp.) and southern rātā, and is the northern limit for many southern montane species such as mountain toatoa and mountain cedar (pahautea). The range is also noteworthy for the rare native Archey's frog (Leiopelma archeyi), whose young hatch from eggs, bypassing the tadpole stage. Moehau is also home to the Moehau stag beetle (Geodorcus sp.), the Moehau weta (Hemiandrus sp.) and a population of approximately 500 brown kiwi.

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