Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MAP
( 06-387 6294, 0800 885 466;
www.tukino.co.nz
;
day pass adult/child $50/30)
Club-operated Tukino is on
Mt Ruapehu's east, 46km from Turangi. It's quite remote, 14km down a gravel road from
the sealed Desert Rd (SH1), and you need a 4WD vehicle to get in. It offers uncrowded,
backcountry runs, mostly beginner and intermediate.
Mountain Air
MAP
( 0800 922 812;
www.mountainair.co.nz
; junction SH47 & SH48; 15/25/35min $120/185/225)
Offers scenic
flights from its base halfway between Whakapapa and National Park Villages. Turangi
and Taupo departures also available.
SCENIC FLIGHTS
TOP OF CHAPTER
Whakapapa Village
POP 100 (SUMMER), 300 (WINTER)
Located within the bounds of Tongariro National Park on the lower slopes of Mt Ruapehu,
Whakapapa Village (pronounced 'fa-ka-pa-pa'; altitude 1140m) is the gateway to the
park, home of the park's visitor centre, and the starting point for numerous walking tracks.
Activities
Whakapapa Nature Walk
Suitable for wheelchairs, this 15-minute loop track begins about 250m above the visitor
centre, passing through beech forest and gardens typical of the park's vegetation zones.
WALKING
Ridge Track
A 30-minute return walk from the village that climbs through beech forest to alpine-shrub
areas for views of Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe.
HIKING
Taranaki Falls Track
A two-hour, 6km loop track heads from the village to Taranaki Falls, which plunge 20m
over an old lava flow into a boulder-ringed pool.
HIKING
Silica Rapids Track
HIKING
