Hey everyone! Lauren here to tell you about our experience hiking the Tongariro Alpine Crossing! The hike is considered New Zealand’s best day hike, and in my opinion, it definitely deserves the title.
Getting to the Trailhead
The hike is one way, with most people taking a shuttle to the beginning of the trail, and getting picked up at the end. However, our Airbnb host Keith kindly offered to drive us to the trailhead and pick us up from the end of the trail! So after an early 6:30 am breakfast we were on our way!
The drive from our Airbnb was pretty short, with the drive only taking about 40 minutes. On the way to the trailhead at the Mangatepopo parking area, Keith stopped to show us a great view of Lake Taupo.
While Gerrod and I were preparing for our hike at the trailhead, Keith chatted with the parking lot guard dude. He mentioned that there weren’t too many people on the trail since there had been so many nice days! Nice!
Soda Springs
The beginning of the hike was pretty flat and easy. About 1.5km along the trail, there was a turn off for Soda Springs, so we decided to check it out! The springs weren’t too far from the main trail, and consisted of a small cascading waterfall. Since it was a spring we were curious if we could drink it, but neither of us were brave enough to try! After snapping our pictures, we continued on the trail.
The Devil’s Staircase
Not too far after Soda Springs starts a section of trail called the Devil’s Staircase. As you can imagine, this section of the trail is very steep! There were even warning signs at the beginning of this section saying that people who are not in shape should turn back. It was definitely steep, but the trail was in good condition making it a little bit easier than it could be.
Casting the One Ring into Mount Doom (Mt. Ngauruhoe)
To make things harder on ourselves, we decided to hike to the top of Mt. Ngauruhoe. This is the mountain that was featured as distance shots of Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies! There isn’t really a trail to the top, you just walk to the top and hope for the best.
The hike to the top was SOOO HARD! It took us 2 hours to hike a mere 2.5km. Not only was it very steep, but the trail is almost entirely loose volcanic rock. The portions of the “trail” that aren’t loose rock are sharp and steep big boulders. To make things worse, when we were nearly to the top we heard a weird thundering sound. Since the weather was still good we weren’t sure whether it was volcanic activity or a landslide. Either way, neither of these are very exciting when you are standing on a loose rock volcano.
Despite the scary sound, we continued to the top. The top definitely made the hike worth it! There was a big colorful crater, and it almost felt like you were on another planet. Of course we pretend to throw the ring into the summit, as any good fan would do. The way back down was much easier, as we rock “skied” the entire way. It only took us an hour before we were back on the trail!
Continuing the Hike
We continued on the normal hike. There was a little bit more of the steep Devil’s Staircase portion of the hike, but the view from the top made it worth it. First we saw the Red Crater, which was super cool and colorful. From the Red Crater, there was a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and the Emerald Lakes below us.
Hiking down to the Emerald Lakes was very steep and was loose rock and gravel. I actually thought this portion of the trail was more difficult than going down Mt. Ngauruhoe. Near the Emerald Lakes, there is visible steam from geothermal activity with the classic rotten egg smell.
After the Emerald Lakes, you walk through a valley before one last hill up to Blue Lake.
Hiking Back Down
Right after Blue Lake, there was a view of Lake Taupo in the distance. We enjoyed the view before beginning our hike back down. The hike down went on, and on, and on, and on…. The views were definitely incredible, but after adding on the extra hike to the top of Mt. Ruapehu, our feet were definitely sore.
After hiking down for what felt like forever, we got to Ketetahi Hut. At Ketetahi Hut, we called Keith to come get us, since from there it would be about an hour down to the end of the trail at the Ketetahi parking lot.
As we continued down, we hiked through woods and crossed a few bridges before finally… the end! According to my Garmin watch, we walked 14.82 miles or almost 24km!
Yay We’re Done
Keith was waiting for us in the parking lot. On our ride back, he stopped next to a river walk to show us a cool swing bridge. The swing bridge is called Red Hut and there was a man jumping off the bridge into the river! It seemed so high and scary, but he said it was deep enough and didn’t seem to get injured. The river was beautiful, and was a nice way to end our day.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing was an outstanding, beautiful, and challenging day hike. It was definitely a highlight for me of our time on the North Island!
Until next time!
Lauren (and Gerrod)
