18 Sep 2025

New maps reveal New Zealand's network of paper roads

From Nights, 8:40 pm on 18 September 2025

Herenga ā Nuku, the Outdoor Access Commission, has just made a major upgrade to its mapping which for the first time identifies the full extent of New Zealand's so-called paper roads: all 55,000 kilometres.

To explain how we ended up with so many, and what rights the public have to use them, field adviser David Barnes from the Outdoor Access Commission joins Emile Donovan.

Map of the paper roads in Taranaki acquired by Green School.

File photo Photo: Supplied