Ātene is a former village located 35 kilometres (22 mi) up the Whanganui River from Whanganui. Originally called Warepakoko,^[1] then Kakata,^[2] it was renamed by the missionary Richard Taylor in the 19th century as a Māori transliteration of Athens. It was the home of the hapū Ngāti Hineoneone of the iwi Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi.^[3] A small meeting house called Te Rangi-i-heke-iho, restored by carver Bill Ranginui,^[4] is all that remains.^[5]

The hill next to Ātene, Puketapu, was once on a peninsula almost completely surrounded by a meander of the Whanganui River; centuries ago the river broke through the neck of the peninsula, connecting the two bends and cutting off the meander.^[6] In the 1960s, a hydroelectric dam was proposed at Ātene, because the meander could have been reinstated while the dam was being constructed.^[7] A hydroelectric dam would have flooded the river as far back as Taumarunui, and the project was abandoned.^[8] While investigating the possibility of a dam, the Ministry of Works built a road in 1959 along the ridgeline overlooking Puketapu. The road is now an 18 km walking track, the Ātene Skyline Track.^[9]