From 1 May 2018, the forested areas of the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park will be closed to prevent the spread of, and to protect against kauri dieback disease. Some tracks in the Hunua Ranges Regional Parks will also be closed.

Fairy Falls is roughly a 40 minutes’ drive away from Auckland City. The road surface is always sealed.

You have two options to approach the car park: either follow the road which leads to Piha and turn right into Scenic Drive, or follow the road which leads to Bethells Beach and turn left into Scenic Drive. The carpark is found along Scenic Drive, and it's well signposted. There are no facilities there (no toilets).

From the car park, cross the main road to start a walking Fairy Falls Track. The first part of the track is an easy and enjoyable walk through a bush. The second part consists of a set of stairs which starts from the top of the upper waterfall and lasts to the base of the lower falls. The walk from the car park to the lower falls’ base will take 20 to 45 minutes (the official sign says ’45 minutes’, but it's true if you walk really SLOW).

If you’ve got kids, they will be well rewarded by an excellent spot for playing with other children at the lower falls pool.

From here, you can continue on to the walk for 45 more minutes and finish the track on Mountain Rd (return to Scenic Drive via Old Coach Road Track), or return back via the same track. Due to the stairs, the walk back will take longer than the walk to the waterfall – expect anything between 40 to 60 minutes to return from the base of the lower waterfall to the Scenic Drive car park.

There is one more, less popular, option available to discover these waterfalls: when you drive along Scenic Drive, turn into Mountain Rd where you find a small car park. Leave your car there and follow Fairy Falls Track for 30-45 minutes (the official sign says ’45 minutes’). The first part of the track descends through the bush. The second part of the track follows the stream (require a couple of stream’s crossings which could be a wet-foot after rain) until it meets the base of the lower waterfall. From here, you can climb the stairs to see the upper waterfalls, or return via the same track.