About | Braemar Springs
Braemar Springs is a beautiful and clear swimming hole, nestled between the Tarawera River below and a nice grassy area that’s great for a family picnic. The freshwater from the swimming hole comes from deep underground so the water may be cold! Perfect on a nice day.
There are no toilets.
Please take your rubbish with you.
Nearby
Waitangi Soda Springs
Maurie Kjar Memorial Swimming Pool (free!)
Location
Along Braemar Road, turn down a dirt road to get there. There’s no signage that it’s there, but we managed to find it by following Google Maps, then finding the dirt road close to it.
Photos
Braemar Springs is totally worth the short detour from State Highway 30 (or State Highway 2)! We came on a warm day and upon arrival couldn’t believe how amazing the water was – and that we had the place to ourselves! Getting our feet wet, though, we were like, there’s no way we’re getting in there! It was freezing.
Mount Putauaki (also known as Mount Edgecumbe) in the distance. You can hike up to the summit (820m), it takes 2 hours to get up there, and you’ll need to grab a permit first. Worth the epic views, so I’ve heard. Every year, people run up the mount for a King of the Mountain race. We saw this mountain so much while we were travelling around the area and definitely want to check out that area more next time!
Ashton was determined to get in though… and tried many times! He would get in, up to his knees, and not be able to get in any further. It looked so beautiful and inviting but was so chillingly cold. Eeek!
Determined to go for it, both boys went in! I ended up going in, too and braved the cold because it was so beautiful I just had to do it. It was nice getting in but I couldn’t get in any further than my waist, Ashton went in the whole way, though! Other people started to arrive and we soon left loving that we got the place to ourselves for a bit.
Another beautiful spot in the area (Private property)
The place we stayed was actually close to Braemar Springs and had the most amazing clear creek to swim in, similar to Braemar Springs. How lucky were we! The water was again, freezing cold, but it looked so good we knew we had to get in. Going further down the creek we found a more shallow part to wade in and get used to, then we were back in the deeper part and it was amazing. The current was quite strong so we spent a good amount of time there swimming against it. Good times! What a lovely place to live!
