Kororipo Heritage Reserve is the large hill overlooking Kerikeri Basin to the southeast of the Stone Store and wharf. You can pick out the terraced shape of the historic grassed Kororipo pā from the wharf to the east, overlooking the basin. A loop walking track from the Stone Store car park starts at the edge of the inlet past the wharf and then climbs up the hill to a wide ridge with a grassy meadow surrounded by mature eucalypts. From there, continue east along the ridge to a viewpoint over the pā and basin. There are several explanatory panels at the viewpoint. You can continue onto and around the pā.
Head back the same way but continue along the wide grassy meadow till you see the track back down to a second car park, off Kerikeri Road and about 20 metres west of the Stone Store. The entrance is marked by several pou and additional explanatory panels. From the southwest end of the ridge meadow, you can also walk to Te Wairere Falls or take the Hongi Hika Walk to Hone Heke Road. From there, walk back down Kerikeri Road to the car park, or take a short deviation to the town centre.
Kororipo pā is the remains of a Māori fortified settlement in the Kerikeri Basin. From this position, it could command the basin and any attempts to access it by canoe. Like many pā, it is very steep on three slides, with the main entrance below the viewpoint protected by a ditch. Historically, Ngāi Tawake defended the pā as their outlet to the sea in the 1770s.
It is most famous as a pā of Hongi Hika from the early 1800s to the 1820s. A Ngāpui rangitira, he was heavily involved with early European and Māori interactions. It provided guardianship to the nearby mission station and Mission House, established in the early 1820s. Less salubrious was its use to launch Hongi Hika’s military campaigns against other iwi during the 1820s during the Musket Wars. This began after he travelled to Britain to acquire guns and returned with 1,000 muskets.
