This is the original Karangahake walkway, and takes about 1-2 hours one way. It is suitable for wheelchairs (via the railway tunnel only).

From the Waikino Station Café visitors cross the Ohinemuri River by a footbridge to reach the Victoria Battery site where quartz from the Martha Mine at Waihi was once processed.

The Battery operated from 1896-1952 and was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. There is a museum and narrow-gauge railway, open weekends and holidays over summer. The walkway then follows the old railway into the gorge, across a bridge to the eastern portal of a 1086 metre tunnel. At the other end a footbridge leads across the top deck of what was once a combined road/rail bridge down to the lower levels of the Crown battery site. From here visitors have the option of following the loop track back to Waikino (not suitable for wheelchairs). The loop track’s most notable historical features are the remains of the Woodstock and Talisman batteries at the confluence of the Waitawheta and Ohinemuri Rivers. A footbridge also provides access from the track to Karangahake Reserve, where refreshments can be had at the Talisman Tearooms on SH2, or further up the hill at Ohinemuri Winery.