Rotorua, NZ – This tour of a Rotorua native forest is number one on TripAdvisor for a very good reason. It seamlessly blends fun, conservation and the incredible natural environment for an experience with an unforgettable twist.

Rotorua Canopy Tours are passionate about the environment, and it shows. Their whole business is built around sustaining the unique Rotorua ecology and immersing tourists in it. So how do you create a tourist attraction that not only conserves the environment, but also is incredibly fun?

You take it from the ground and suspend it in the air, of course.

Canopy Tours specialise in small groups of people who are taken on a journey with a difference. Rather than walking along a forest floor, participants walk through the canopy. They wander through the 1000-year-old forest, suspended12m above the ground. Surrounded by native birds, unique fungi (keeping an eye out for the stink horn fungus)and the lush tree-tops, visitors are given an incredible perspective. As they wander over swing bridges from tree to tree, they learn about the native forest and the challenges NZ faces from introduced predators and fauna.

Canopy Tours has achieved extraordinary results with their conservation efforts. In 2016, they won the NZ Supreme Tourism Award due to its 100% commitment to the environment. Since it started, Canopy Tours has poured more than $250,000 into the Dansey Road Scenic Reserve. It’s established 1100 automated self-resetting traps over 250 hectares of forest, controlling the pest population. This has resulted in a resurgence in numbers of native birds and the forest fauna is flourishing again.

However, it’s not just about the environment, because tourists want more than just education.The Ultimate Tour was released in 2018, with an overwhelmingly positive response. There’s a 400m zipline—and that’s only one of six breath-takingflights through the air, suspended above the forest. There are also three swing bridges, a cliff walk and a spiral staircase—it’s enough to keep the thrill-hunters happy.

The guides are all highly trained, not just in health and safety processes, but also in how to ensure everyone in the group has fun, even those who are nervous at height. The team of Kiwis that lead the tours are guaranteed to make participants smile while teaching amazing things about the environment.

Canopy Tours have overwhelmingly created an experienced loved by all who do it. It’s ranked as the top outdoor attraction in the region, with people returning again (and again) for this tour which they remember for the rest of their life.

Business hours:

8am - 8pm Oct - April, 8am - 6pm May – September

Months of operation:

All months of the year, all weather conditions

Proximity to town:

10 minutes to town

Pricing and Conditions

Adult - $149.00

Child(15 year(s) and under) - $119.00

Age restriction:

6 and over