The Grove Scenic Reserve is at Clifton, near Pohara. It features a 20 minute walking track which makes its way easily upwards to a viewing platform through a series of limestone blocks, some sculpted into wonderful shapes by water. The tentacle-like roots of northern rata trees that hang down many of the blocks create an eerie atmosphere. Nikau palms are also a feature of the reserve.
Usually, northern rata begins its life in accumulated forest debris high in the branches of a tree. At the Grove, however, sufficient plant material is available on the limestone blocks for rata to take a hold there. As the rata trees get bigger, they send roots down to the ground, enveloping their rocky hosts like a giant hand.
Rata is a favourite food of the possum, New Zealand's most prolific forest pest. The Grove is now the subject of the South Island's first 'Project Crimson' programme, an initiative designed to protect rata trees and their close relative the pohutukawa.
No camping, fires or dogs are allowed in the reserve.
(From Department of Conservation information online.)
For the best experience, follow the signs which direct you to go anticlockwise around the track. Do take the time to check the lookout, it's well worth it. On the way back from the lookout, take a path on the right. Down this alleyway you will see a downward sloping crevasse. The cache is in this crevasse.