© Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
© sarang
Sarang · Public domain Desert Road & Rangipō
Waihohonu Hut & Ohinepango Springs
Easy 14 kmreturn 3–4 hr return ↑ 189 m
A cold, crystal-clear spring that bursts from beneath an old lava flow at huge volume.
Twenty minutes from Waihohonu Hut, the Ohinepango Stream appears fully formed from under a lava flow, icy, clear and fast. One of the loveliest small places in the park and a reason in itself to walk in from the Desert Road.
Ohinepango Springs © Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
© sarang
Sarang · Public domain
© Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Geoff McKay · CC BY 2.0
© Sarang · Public domain
© ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0
Rangipō Desert © Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Krzysztof Golik · CC BY-SA 4.0
© Geoff McKay · CC BY 2.0 A high gravel desert in the volcanoes’ rain shadow, used for Mordor and the Black Gate.
The park’s oldest hut (1904) and its newest Great Walk hut, in beech forest on the eastern side.
Desert Road viewpoints © Geoff McKay · CC BY 2.0
© Geoff McKay · CC BY 2.0
© Geoff McKay · CC BY 2.0 The classic drive-by panorama of all three volcanoes across the tussock plains.