© Blueromulan · CC BY-SA 3.0 Waterfall · Whakapapa Village
Tawhai Falls
Gollum’s Pool
1,000 m WaterForestFilming location Famous view #8
A 13 m waterfall over a lava lip, famous as Gollum’s Pool in The Lord of the Rings.
A ten-minute stroll through mountain beech and toatoa forest to a viewing point above the Whakapapanui Stream as it drops over the edge of an old lava flow. The plunge pool doubled as the Forbidden Pool where Gollum catches fish in The Two Towers.
On screen. The Forbidden Pool (Gollum fishing) in The Two Towers.
Tawhai Falls © Blueromulan · CC BY-SA 3.0 
© Nick Bramhall · CC BY-SA 2.0 Tracks that reach Tawhai Falls
© Blueromulan · CC BY-SA 3.0 Also nearby
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A 20 m waterfall plunging over the edge of a 15,000-year-old lava flow.
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#1
Lake· 1,440 m · Whakapapa Village
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The most dramatic viewpoint in the Whakapapa area: a crater lake directly below Ngāuruhoe.