Access to Waitākere Reservoir is at the northwestern end of Scenic Drive in the Waitākere Ranges. You can park at the obvious parking area on the side of the road, then walk around the Watercare gate and down the access road for about 20 minutes to the dam.
The main feature of the walk is the good number of visible kauri trees that have reached the point of crowning. Then the dam is in a spectacular spot, with trees in the gully below reaching the dam's height, including kauri crowns.
You can cross the dam and walk a short distance around the reservoir, where there is a grassed area surrounded by recovering forest, including a large area of kauri rickers (saplings), or walk down the side of the dam to above the Waitākere Falls, the highest waterfall in the Waitākere Ranges at 95 metres. There is a fence along the top of the falls, and the water flow is constrained, but you can still sense the cliff's height.
From the dam, you can also access the tracks in Cascade Kauri Park. These can be done as a loop, with many ancient kauri trees, that takes about 3 to 4 hours.
