Tongariro field notes
Tongariro National Park · Aotearoa New Zealand

Three volcanoes,
one notebook.

Every track, waterfall, crater and viewpoint around Ruapehu, Ngāuruhoe and Tongariro: what each walk shows you, how far it climbs, and where the snow is this month.

Plan a trip Browse the tracks Open the map Snow & weather

29 tracks · 48 places · 6 waterfalls · 7 crater lakes

Start here

Six walks that show the park

Short strolls to full days: a lava-lip waterfall, a lava wall in the snow zone, crater lakes under Ngāuruhoe, and the Crossing itself.

All 29 tracks →

Hand-drawn map of Tongariro National Park
The park in five areas

Where do you want to be?

Famous views

The ten you came for

Ranked for scenery and photographs rather than effort. Each one links to the tracks that reach it.

#1 Upper Tama Lake #1 Upper Tama Lake © Bohwaz · FAL
#2 Meads Wall #2 Meads Wall © ELLK Photographic · CC BY 2.0
#3 Sky Waka & Knoll Ridge #3 Sky Waka & Knoll Ridge © Kesara Rathnayake · CC BY-SA 2.0
#4 Lower Tama Lake #4 Lower Tama Lake © Pavel Špindler · CC BY 3.0
#5 Taranaki Falls #5 Taranaki Falls © Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
#6 Red Crater #6 Red Crater © Du Hugin Skulblaka · CC BY-SA 4.0
#6 Emerald Lakes #6 Emerald Lakes © Markrosenrosen · CC BY-SA 3.0
#7 Waitonga Falls #7 Waitonga Falls © ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0
#8 Tawhai Falls #8 Tawhai Falls © Blueromulan · CC BY-SA 3.0
#9 Ridge Track Lookout #9 Ridge Track Lookout © NightOwlCall · CC0
#10 Silica Rapids #10 Silica Rapids © Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
Snow

Will there be snow?

Ruapehu holds snow on the summit all year and across the ski fields from June to October. Lower tracks see it only after winter storms. Live forecast at three elevations below; the snow page has month-by-month odds for every spot.

Fetching the mountain forecast…

Map

Every track and place

Lines coloured by difficulty. Click one to open the track; the layers button switches to satellite.