It is accessible from Taylors Mistake or from two car parks along the Summit Road on Godley Head. You can drive to Taylors Mistake from Sumner through the suburb of Scarborough. Evans Pass Road behind Sumner crosses the Summit Road at Evans Pass. The Godley Head car park is 6km east of here. The Christchurch #3 (Sumner/Mt Pleasant) bus runs to Sumner; this is the nearest approach of public transport. From Sumner you can walk over to Taylors Mistake (see Scarborough-Taylors Mistake).

Taylors Mistake Route: 1½-2 hr, very easy

The walkway begins at the large parking area at Taylors Mistake beach. The beach is popular with swimmers and surfers in summer. There are toilets, a picnic area and an information board here. Follow the trail past the row of baches toward the southern end of the beach. At the last bach the track climbs onto the hillside, where it traverses, 20-40m above the water, as far as Boulder Bay. Grasses cover the entire head, although a few introduced shrubs are visible flowering around the remains of cave dwellings east of Harris Bay. Large, old conifers line the pretty gully of Boulder Bay, where a few baches are sited. Here the track turns right and ascends directly to the Summit Road. Skylarks are barely visible as black spots singing and hovering overhead, and can sometimes be seen taking off almost vertically from the grasses in the distance. A car park is located by the road, along with toilets, a water supply, and an information board. Frogs can be heard in a small pond nearby, which is also visited by ducks.

The southern half of the walkway loop is along a less used, slightly rougher track. It climbs westward, passing some old observation posts, then turning to sidle around the south side of a hill farther west. There are good views along the length of Lyttelton Harbour, with Adderley Head opposite, and Mechanics and Breeze Bays below. The track climbs to cross the Summit Road before descending a grassy slope back to the coastal track.

Tunnel Route: 1 hr, very easy

This track takes in the military defence structures that remain from World War II. The coastal defences were never needed and the area was later used for training purposes. From the car park at Godley Head, the original army track zigzags down towards Mechanics Bay. A track leads to a 110m tunnel accessing the site of searchlight emplacements, with dramatic views. Back on the loop track you climb back to the car park, past the shells of old buildings (generator shed, battery plotting room and mini range). Underground kitchens are only visible as steel hatches and chimneys amongst the grasses.