Distance: 2.4 km (1.3 DOC hours) - Tramping track - Easy-moderate terrain
Altitude: 724m to 1240m. Gain: 11m. Loss: 516m . Gradient: 13 deg (Moderate)
Skills:

Tramping track (4/9)
Cut, marked tramping track: natural, rough ground surface

Primary, mapped (1/5)
Formal route, on maps, principal access to hut or along range / catchment

Moderate (difficulty: 3/5)
Occasional moderate climbs

Easy-moderate (difficulty: 2/5)
Tussock / river-gravel / open bush / cut track

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

None (difficulty: 1/6)
No unbridged river crossings

None (difficulty: 1/7)
No alpine skills required

Heading east from the track junction, the track to 'The Lakes' passes the Kurikapango summit on its northern side & meanders E-NE through a landscape of clay-pan clearings with the route marked by cairns. After 600m or so, a spur begins to form & a formal cut & marked track asserts itself, descending down its apex. The gradient is steady & the going good for 1km, after which the track swings sharply SE off the spur & zigzags its way steeply down the southern face to the basin below. Finally, a short stroll through gently sloping pines leads you to the roadend at 'The Lakes' carpark.

Note: Described in the reverse direction to your journey

From 'The Lakes' carpark, a cut, marked tramping track heads east, gently rising through pine trees towards the base of the spur. Initially, it sidles south of the main spur, then zigzags its way up to the ridgeline through manuka scrub. Once on the ridge the gradient settles down a bit, and the track climbs SE along the well defined apex, passing through scattered areas of manuka & pine. The gradient eases further as the summit nears, and we enter a landscape of clay-pan. The cut marked track becomes a cairned route through the claypan clearings - but still quite easily followed. Passing just north of the antenna & the summit, a signpost just beyond marks the start of the track down to Kurikapango & the Cameron carpark on the Taihape Road.