The Forgotten World Highway (State Highway 43) is one of New Zealand’s most atmospheric backroad journeys, winding 148 km between Stratford and Taumarunui over bushclad saddles and rugged farmland, tunnels and old railway-era settlements in Taranaki and the King Country. For motorhome travellers, it offers a slower, more authentic slice of rural New Zealand, and Bushlands Ghost Town Campground at Tangarakau is a standout place to stop and stay along the way.
What and where is SH43?
- State Highway 43 runs between Stratford in Taranaki and Taumarunui in the central North Island, covering about 148 km.
- The route follows old Māori trade routes and early pioneer and railway corridors, passing through small settlements like Whangamōmona and the stunning native forest of the Tangarakau Gorge.
Why it’s called the Forgotten World Highway
- The “Forgotten World” name reflects how the area emptied out after the railway and forestry booms, leaving ghost towns and tiny communities scattered through steep, bush-clad country.
- Many of the sites you pass were once busy railway or sawmilling towns; today they’re quiet valleys, relics and interpretive signs that give the drive a timeless, almost lost-in-history feel.
Road conditions and motorhome suitability
- The highway is now fully sealed, with 12km of the Tangarakau Gorge section fully sealed in 2025.
- The road is narrow, winding and steep in places, but is generally suitable for most vehicles; larger motorhomes just need to take it slowly, drive in daylight, and fuel up before starting as there are no petrol stations along the route.
Highlights along the route
- Scenic features include four main saddles, rugged farmland and native bush, the Moki Tunnel (often called Hobbit’s Hole), and side trips such as Mount Damper Falls, one of the higher waterfalls in the North Island.
- Whangamōmona, famous for declaring itself a “republic” in 1989, is a classic stop for a meal, a stamp in your passport at the local hotel, and a wander through a quirky, proudly independent rural community.
Bushlands Ghost Town Campground (Tangarakau)
- Bushlands Campground sits near the site of the old Tangarakau railway town, in a lush valley on the banks of the Tangarakau River about 6 km down Tangarakau Road off SH43 near Tahora.
- Reviews describe it as peaceful and “a slice of paradise”, with a ghost-town history, riverside setting, night skies free of light pollution, and no mobile or data coverage, making it ideal for a digital switch-off.
- Bushlands Campground has a small museum with displays and information from fossils found, early Maori habitation to in the mid‑1920s Tangarakau was transformed into a bustling construction town for the Stratford–Taumarunui railway, with a peak population of around 4000 people living in camps and family housing while gangs hand‑dug tunnels, cut massive earthworks, and built bridges in extremely rugged terrain.
Why stay at Bushlands on a motorhome trip
- The campground offers grassy riverside sites, rustic cabins and shared facilities; guests mention clean, comfortable amenities, hot showers and a friendly, hands-on hosting style.
- Activities like swimming in the river, spotting glow worms, cooking in a communal pizza oven and relaxing around a fire pit make it especially attractive for families and small groups travelling by motorhome. The Fossil Canyon (3km from the campground) is a highlight with grassy meadows and wild horses, deer and goats.
- Bushlands is well situated almost halfway between Stratford and Taumarunui,
We highly recommend an overnight at Bushlands as the signature stop between Stratford and Taumarunui, particularly for travellers who value scenery and history over full-on holiday park infrastructure.
Be aware that it’s remote, with no cell reception and limited services nearby, so visitors should depart either Stratford or Taumarunui with full fuel and sufficient food supplies to be ready to enjoy a genuinely off-grid campground, in a historic ghost town setting, for a classic rural Kwi holiday experience.
Bushlands Ghost Town Campground:
26 Tangarakau Road, Tāngarākau 4397
Phone: 022 360 2454, Email: [email protected]