Open Saturday & Sundays.

Entry by donation $5 adult.

The Pioneer Village was established in 1970 in the former Silverdale (Wade) school grounds.

The old school, now used as a Playcentre, can be seen beside the drive at the Wainui Road entrance.

Starting from the top (Wainui Road) entrance, turn left under the pergola, take the Time Trail and "step back in time" to the 1840s when teams of men began felling timber, usually under contract to early European land claimants.

To the left of the path is a "sawpit"- in this case a stand -similar to those used by early sawyers.

To the right is a hut used as a permanent residence by a solitary bushman later in the century.

By the 1870s the native forest in this area was mostly felled and the former bushland was invaded by itinerants seeking kauri gum left in the ground from the ancient forests.