A walking track passes through 28 hectares of virgin native podocarp forest, gifted to QEII by David Druce in 1995. The property has now been gifted to the New Zealand Native Forest Restoration Trust and is protected by a QEII covenant.

The forest is rich in native flora with more than 130 recorded species.

Awapikopiko Reserve is particularly valuable because much of the original native forest in the Hawke’s Bay region has been cleared.