Scenic Highlights

Top Ruapehu scenic highlights

Nearly all the scenery in the Ruapehu region stems from the massive three-pack of volcanoes that dominates the landscape. The volcanoes are responsible for the deserts, the lakes, the rivers and the thermal springs.

Selected highlights at a glance

A trilogy of volcanoes - Tongariro National Park

The Tongariro World Heritage National Park isn't special just because it showcases three magnificent volcanoes. It's also highly treasured because it was New Zealand's first national park, and the first park in the world to be created by a gift of land from an indigenous people. The park has dual World Heritage status, in recognition of its natural and cultural features.

In 1887 Te Heuheu Tukino IV (Horonuku), Paramount Chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa people, gifted 2,630 hectares of the central volcano area to the New Zealand Government, including the summits of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu. His move secured the mountains for all people, for all time.

Over the last century, adjoining land has been added to the park - its present size is nearly 80,000 hectares. The park's centrepiece, Mount Ruapehu (2,797 metres), rises dramatically from the surrounding alpine tussock and volcanic rock plateau. Alongside Mount Ruapehu are the two smaller volcanic mountains of Mount Ngauruhoe and Mount Tongariro. The cone of Mount Tongariro provides the perfect place to gaze across the North Island towards Mount Taranaki in the west and the forested Kaimanawa Range in the east. Mount Ruapehu is the site of the North Island's premier ski fields - Whakapapa and Turoa. Chairlifts run in summer as well as winter, making it easy to get up to the huge views.

The rocky slopes of the Tongariro National Park were ideal for filming Mordor, home to the Dark Lord Sauron in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Beautiful Mount Ngauruhoe was digitally transformed to create fiery Mount Doom.

One amazing day of your life - the Tongariro Crossing

The Tongariro Crossing is renowned as a one-day hike that does it all - from alpine meadow to mountain summit, with stunning volcanic features along the way. You'll journey across a surreal landscape of craters, scattered pumice, coloured lakes, piles of scoria and statue-like mounds of volcanic rock - all testament to the forces that were unleashed to create this volcanic desert. To get to your starting point it's easiest to use the track transport, which is provided by a number of local operators. A small charge covers drop off and pick up. Mountain weather conditions can be highly changeable, and it can be cold even in summer. Ensure you are well equipped before you set out.

Around the mountain or up to the summit

As well as the Tongariro Crossing, there are a number of other acclaimed hiking trails around the national park. Following mountain contours or meandering streams, these trails come in all sizes - from a one hour jaunt to a five day wilderness experience.

The Round-the-Mountain track offers amazing scenery that changes with every hour. It takes three full days for a fit party in good weather conditions (nights at Mangaturuturu and Rangipo Huts), or four to six days at a more leisurely pace.

The best way to experience the Ruapehu crater walk is to join a guided tour, which leaves from the Whakapapa ski-field. From the 'Top o' the Bruce' you can use chair lifts to give you a head start. Then there's a 1 hour hike to the Dome Shelter for incredible views of the crater.

The Whanganui River

The Whanganui River starts out as an alpine stream, high up on Mount Tongariro, and gathers water as it travels north to the town of Taumarunui, meeting the Ongarue River at Ngahuinga ('the meeting place'). Then it flows south west for over 160 kilometres to the Tasman Sea. The river is New Zealand's longest navigable waterway, and a perfect environment for kayaking or canoeing. Even absolute beginners can manage the Whanganui's gentle rapids, however the remoteness of the middle stretches makes it essential to take proper equipment and sufficient supplies.

Until recent times, the river was the main route into the North Island interior. It has a fascinating and exciting history of wars, steamboats, water-driven flour mills and abandoned homes and farms.

The unreal Bridge to Nowhere

The Bridge to Nowhere is a concrete road bridge spanning the Mangapurua Stream in Whanganui National Park. The bridge was built across the Mangapurua Gorge to provide access to an area where pioneering farmers (mainly soldiers who had returned from World War 1) were trying to scratch a living. The intention was to eventually build a road to the settlement, but the area proved to be so remote and unsuitable for farming that the settlers left and the farms reverted to native bush. All that remains is the bridge, which is accessible by boat and then by walking track.

Ohakune Lakes Reserve

Ohakune Lakes Reserve encompasses two lakes surrounded by original mountain beech forest. The first lake is man made - a stream was dammed to turn a swampy area into a lake for the introduction of game birds and trout in the 1960s. The top lake, Rotokura, is natural and believed to have an underground connection with Mount Ruapehu. Bird life, such as tui, kaka, bellbird, fantail and North Island robin, are plentiful in this area. Native and exotic waterfowl, dabchicks, mallard, grey and paradise ducks and Australian coots can also be seen. Trout fishing is popular on both lakes.

Ohinetonga Scenic Reserve

A loop track through Ohinetonga Scenic Reserve begins at the picnic area by the Whakapapa River Bridge and takes two to three hours to walk. It passes through the different forest types and offers beautiful views of the river and surrounding landscape. A boardwalk crosses Ohinetonga lagoon, which is full of water lilies. Beyond the lagoon, the track leads back down to the river and a good swimming hole.