Tongariro Northern Circuit

Getting to the Tongariro Northern Circuit:

Fare per night during Great Walks season is $70 for New Zealand citizens, $140 for international visitors.

Your journey begins by making your way across the eroded plains of the Tongariro volcanic complex, a series of explosion craters and volcanic cones and peaks. Venturing through a landscape carved out by ancient lava flows and stream beds, you'll be dwarfed by the massive cone of Mount Ngauruhoe on your right. For the final hour the track leads you around Pukekaikiore, one of Tongariro's older steam vents, before reaching Mangatepopo Hut.

Mangatepopo Hut

Fare per night during Great Walks season is $70 for New Zealand citizens, $140 for international visitors.

You join the popular Tongariro Alpine Crossing on the second day, crossing remnants of lava flows and climbing steeply up Te Arawhata to the expansive Red Crater. Here you'll be dazzled by the aptly named Emerald Lakes.

Descending into Oturere Valley, you'll pass through a landscape of other-worldly lava forms before reaching Oturere Hut.

Oturere Hut

Fare per night during Great Walks season is $70 for New Zealand citizens, $140 for international visitors.

After leaving Oturere Hut the track undulates over a number of stream valleys and open gravel fields. Plant life here has been constantly repressed by volcanic eruptions, altitude and climate. Loose gravel means that recolonisation by plants is a slow process on the open and bare countryside.

The track gradually sidles around the foot hills of Ngauruhoe descending into a valley and crossing one of the branches of the Waihohonu Stream. Continue through a beech clad valley before climbing towards the ridge top. Waihohonu Hut is in the next valley.

Waihohonu Hut

Fare per night during Great Walks season is $70 for New Zealand citizens, $140 for international visitors.

You'll begin your final day following the Waihohonu Stream as you head west towards Tama saddle, cradled by the towering Mount Ngauruhoe on your right and Mount Ruapehu on your left. On reaching the Tama saddle, a detour will take you to the beautiful Tama lakes - empty craters now filled with azure blue water. From here, you'll pass the tumbling Taranaki Falls before returning to your starting point at Whakapapa Village.