The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is touted as one of the best day walks in New Zealand (if not the world) and for good reason. It’s freaking beautiful!
We are super lucky to have this area of our beautiful country in our backyard as there are so many amazing walks in the region. This wasn’t our first go at the Tongariro Alpine crossing as we did the first half of the Tongariro Crossing a few years back when the second half of the crossing was closed. This meant that we could only go to the emerald lakes and then had to turn around the hike out the same way we came in. This time around we got to do the whole she-bang!
We decided at the end of 2015 to lock in a few events for Wanganui Bootcamp in 2016 as a way to get out and about and see more of our beautiful country whilst enjoying it with our Bootcampers. So far this year we have done the Manawatu Gorge Walk and the Westmere Walkway and we were waiting for the weather to cool down a little before we tackled the Tongariro Crossing.
The beginning of the Tongariro Crossing is pretty tame and pretty much anyone can handle the section out to Soda Springs (and return back to the car park if you just want a short walk). You can see Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom for your LOTR Fans) as you walk the first section and it’s just stunning. Mt Ngauruhoe has always been my favourite of the mountains because it is that perfect cone shape!
After the first section of the track you will find a few toilets and I would encourage use of them if you are doing the full hike as it’s a long way to the next lot of toilets at Ketetahi Hut!
After you have passed the toilets you will begin to ascend Devils Staircase which is rather aptly named and I’m sure it has scared plenty of people off before. Take it nice and easy and stop when you need to catch your breath and most able bodied people will be able to make it to the top.
At the top you will be greeted by a bunch of people sitting on rocks enjoying a snack but if you look back down to where you have come from you will not only have a fantastic view (if you’re lucky you may be able to see all the way out to Mt Taranaki!) you will be able to appreciate how far up you have come.
Continuing up the track a bit further and you will come across the red crater, you will know when you have reached it as the earth becomes a deep red (funny that!). After the Red Crater you will continue your ascent by clambering over rocks and trying not to slide back down the hill. A wire chain has been installed in steep sections of the track to assist you to get up the hills. This section is a little bit more tricky than the Devils Staircase but slower going because of the care you need to take looking where you are stepping.
Once you reach the top of this section of the Tongariro Crossing you will realise that you then have a steep downwards section of the track. However the reward at the bottom of the downwards section is the absolutely stunning emerald lakes! The catch here is that the downward section is incredibly loose sandy and rocky terrain as well as being VERY steep.
This is where you need to take your time and be okay with slipping and sliding a bit. I found that it was best if you went down sideways and just kind of let your front foot slide until it stopped and then followed with the back foot. I also found that once you’ve gotten into the groove of doing it and becoming okay with sliding around a bit it was a lot easier to get down. Going down incredibly slowly takes forever and is nerve racking but once you get okay with your footing sliding and trusting that it will stop and you won’t do the splits, all is A-okay!
The Emerald lakes is a very popular place to stop and enjoy a spot of lunch, a lot of the hard up hill walking is out of the way and the lakes are such a beautiful colour that I can see why a lot of people stop here. We walked past the first lakes and stopped by the second one, found a rock to perch on, put our hoodies and jackets back on so we didn’t cool down too much and ate our packed lunch too.
After the Emerald Lakes and the lunch break we continued on. The next stretch is a long and relatively flat section which then turns into a big hill which isn’t as long as the last hills but it is tough going. After this section you have done pretty much all of the hard climbing for the day as there are only a few very short hills in amongst all the downhill left to go.
Once we got to the top of this hill we were greeted with another Blue Lake which was looking just stunning as the cloud was beginning to cover a section of it.
The next section of the track was rather eerie as we were walking up in the clouds and all the groups of people had slowly started to spread out and it felt as though it was literally just you walking around up in the clouds. It had cooled down in this section so we kept our jackets on and powered through.
Once we had gotten through the section of cloud and began to curve around the side of the mountain we could start to see the lakes out towards Taupo in the distance which was super pretty! We then saw the Hut from a distance and it looked pretty close, I say looked pretty close but it really wasn’t.
The track was all downhill to the hut however it was a very gradual downhill and took a long time to get there! After what felt like about an hour (I didn’t check the clock!) we finally had made it too the hut. I wouldn’t recommend a toilet stop here unless very necessary as this is the toilet right in the middle of the track which by the way people were covering their noses doesn’t get serviced as often as the rest. However if you need to go it will be a couple of hours before you come across another one, so harden up, block your nose and go quickly!
From the Ketetahi Hut (at present there is no accommodation here, it is merely a shelter in case of bad weather),the signs state that you are 6.4km away from the Ketetahi Car Park which signals the end of the track.
Be prepared for that 6.4km to feel longer than everything you have already walked. It isn’t that it’s a particularly hard section of the track it’s just that it’s a gradual downhill for a decent chunk of it and the scenery really doesn’t change until you hit the 3km to go mark and then that last 3km is all very similar as well.
There are a few step downhill parts including some stairs in the final 6km, the gradual downhill does put pressure on your knees so if you have knee issues you may need to take this section slowly and take frequent breaks.
The last 3km or so of the Tongariro Crossing is in beautiful native NZ bush. I really wasn’t expecting the crossing to be in the bush like this, I suppose all the photo’s I have ever seen have always been of the start of the track or the Emerald Lakes.
I absolutely love walking through tracks like this, however by this point I was kind of ready for the track to be over. It was a nice change of scenery but one again you are still walking downhill very gradually.
Part way through the bush area you will reach a lahar warning sign (a lot of people were getting excited when they saw this sign as they thought it was the end! – Yeah it’s not!) and you will continue to walk through the bush alongside a little ‘river’. After the sign which depicts the end of the lahar warning zone (I don’t understand how you can be out of the lahar zone at that point but I digress!) you will have another km or so to go.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing is NOT a loop track, you will end at a different point to where you started so you MUST have a shuttle or car arranged for you at the end of the track. If this isn’t possible for you my recommendation would be to park at the Mangatepopo end and hike out to the Emerald Lakes and then return the way you came (you will see some of the best bits this way).
The Tongariro Crossing is a 19.4km hike and you need to make sure you are prepared. There is no food available (although we all joked about how someone parked up with a coffee cart and pizza bus at the end would make an absolute killing) and no fresh water so you need to carry in everything you will need.
Despite being a beautiful day, it was cold on the mountain and you need to ensure that you pack plenty of warm clothes as you cool down very quickly on the sections where you are not hiking uphill.
Overall I can highly recommend the Tongariro Crossing and I can see why it’s considered one of the best day trips in New Zealand! Just make sure you are prepared before you head off!
Have you ever done the Tongariro Crossing? – Would you ever do it?