To access the area you can either park at the gate on 8-Mile Road off State Highway 5 south of Rotorua, park between the Blue Lake and Green Lake and walk/bike along Lakefront Rd, or through the other forestry roads via the mountain bike park.
From my research it appears that the picnic area and associated walkways were established in the mid-1970’s.
When I moved to the district in 2005, the Green Lake Picnic Area was already fairly abandoned, although locals still visited. There were no toilets but the grass was being mowed, there were rubbish bins, and it was quite common to find one or two other cars parked when I visited.
In 2012 the gate to the carpark was closed to prevent further vandalism, illegal dumping, camping and increased fire risk from those illegal activities.
I have recently noticed some changes in the forest nearby, with what appears to be new mountain bike trails being built. Let’s hope this will bring the re-opening of the road gate and renewed interest and use of the area by the public.
Read below if you want to know more about the history of this area (information I gathered from the links listed at the very end of the text)
The Whakarewarewa Forest is more than 120 years old, with the first blocks of land purchased in 1896. It was one of several forests planted around the end of the 19th century in a bid to forestall a timber shortage that was predicted due to rapid deforestation of native forests. Initially it was classified as a State Park (these were managed for a number of different purposes, including timber production).
In the 1970’s the Redwood Memorial Grove and walking tracks and the Green (Rotokakihi) Lake picnic area were opened to the public for recreation. Whakarewarewa was officially designated as a Forest Park in October 1975 under the Forests Act.
In 1987 the Forest Park designation was removed with the restructuring of the New Zealand Forest Service.
In 2009, ownership of the forest land was transferred to the Central North Island collective (a large group of Iwi and Hapu) as part of a major Treaty for Waitangi settlement.
Today part of the forest is managed by the Rotorua Discrict Council, other parts are managed by Kaingaroa Timberlands under a Crown Forest Licence for commercial forestry purposes.
The stretch of land between Lake Rotokakahi and Lake Tikitapu is a Covenant Area, and is recognized as culturally significant through a Statutory Acknowledgement by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Quoted from the Statutory Acknowledgement:
“Lake Rotokakahi, highly sacred to Te Arawa, is the single outstanding feature of significance on the cultural landscape of the covenant areas. Its waters, imbued with the tapu of ancestors of great mana killed in battle on the lake - whose remains lie undisturbed on the lake bed - lap the surrounding shores. Its islands of sanctuary, Motutawa and Punaruku, are saturated with the blood of Tuhourangi. Following the conquest and total banishment of Ngāti Apumoana, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Tuteata for the killing of Umukaria at Motutawa, the whole of the Tuhourangi tribe remained and settled on the land surrounding the lakes. Their principal pa were at Motutawa, Kariri and Ohorongo. There were numerous settlements, kainga and cultivations all around Rotokakahi. There were also a number of fishing grounds and grounds for the gathering of kakahi (freshwater mussels). The resultant population growth of Tuhourangi bore witness to the prosperity they enjoyed on this land and their surrounding vast Rotomahana Parekarangi estates. Yet, it was on Lake Rotokakahi and the island of Motutawa that Tuhourangi sought sanctuary in the many battles they were to fight subsequent to their initial conquest. The values Tuhourangi place on Lake Rotokakahi and the surrounding lands are values consequential to their defining moment in history as a people. This was where Tuhourangi launched its terrible revenge on the slayers of their favourite son, Umukaria. This was the spot from which Tuhourangi spread its numerous hapū to settle their vast estates, to cultivate their rich soils, to fish their numerous lakes, to continue their own traditional customs, usages and practices, to multiply, and to further enhance the mana of Tuhourangi throughout the land. But above all, this was, and still is, their sanctuary - where they can honour their ancestors, bury their deceased, and remember their proud history.”
For more information:
aprconsultants.co.nz/index.php/download_file/-/view/38/
http://www.boprc.govt.nz/media/210743/statutoryacknowledgements-chapter6-affiliatetearawaiwiandhapu.pdf
https://www.boprc.govt.nz/media/424743/rdc-map-4.pdf
http://www.fletchercollection.co.nz/exhibition/turning-points/category2/charles-blomfield.php