Rangitoto Range

Rangitoto Range
Ranginui repeater station and access track
Highest point
Elevation	978 m (3,209 ft)
Geography
Location	Waikato, New Zealand
Parent range	Rangitoto
Topo map	Bennydale BF34 [1]

Rangitoto Range is in the Pureora Forest Park in the North Island of New Zealand. Its main peaks are Ranginui (978 m (3,209 ft)), Mt Baldy (855 m) and Rangitoto (873 m). It has the headwaters of the Waipa, Puniu and Mokau Rivers and forms the eastern boundary of the King Country. Streams on the eastern slopes drain into the Waikato River.

The ranges have the last area of native forest to be opened for logging. After protests and occupations some areas of totara and rewarewa native forests were preserved and logged areas are being restored. Endangered species present include North Island kōkako, kaka, falcon, North Island brown kiwi, blue duck, bats and Hochstetter's frog.

The Range is formed of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Manaia Hill Group greywacke (a form of sandstone, with little or no bedding, fine to medium grained, interbedded with siltstone and conglomerate, and with many quartz veins), buried in many places by Quaternary ignimbrites. The main ignimbrite is the Ongatiti Formation, up to 150 m thick of compound, weakly to strongly welded, vitrophyric (phenocrysts embedded in a glassy rock), including pumice-, andesite and rhyolite lavas. The ignimbrite forms round, flat-topped hills, edged by eroding banks, covered in blocks of ignimbrite, where the underlying greywacke has eroded.