Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve and the adjacent Porirua Scenic Reserve protect the most significant area of native forest left in the Tawa–Porirua Basin.
The landscape is steep and undulating, rising to Colonial Knob, 468 metres above sea level. Colonial Knob is one of several visible remnants of a peneplain — an eroded land mass that existed 30 – 40 million years ago. Earthquakes have since raised the peneplain, and it has eroded to form these hills.
In the late 19th century two reservoirs were built in Colonial Knob Scenic Reserve to supply Porirua Hospital, but became redundant when the hospital was connected to the Porirua City water supply.
The view from the summit of Colonial Knob extends from the Kaikoura Range in the south to Mt Taranaki in the north-west. The islands of Mana and Kapiti are clearly seen offshore, and the drowned river valleys that make up Porirua Harbour are a prominent feature of the landscape. This is the only drowned river valley system in the Wellington region.
The reserve is located on the hills west of Tawa and Linden.
Please bring your own pen, and all people should sign the log.
Please once paperwork done, place back the same way found.
