If you’re looking for a unique Rotorua walk, the guided walk around Mount Tarawera is for you.
The guided walk is less than 4km, but it truly is awesome making it one of the best things to do in Rotorua, and even New Zealand, for me.
I went with Kaitiaki Adventures but booked through my hostel who were able to match the $99 price I saw on BookMe.co.nz.
It’s worth checking the GetYourGuide.com listing too.
Though you might like this Mt Tarawera tour and accommodation package organised by my buddy Alex (let her know Jub sent you).
A tourist photo from a rock that nature landed in the perfect spot 😀
In this post you’ll read about:
- what you can expect on the tour
- my experience on the tour
- lots of photos
- other tips and tricks
But first, I’ll address what I believe is the most popular questions about the Mount Tarawera walk.
Can you walk Mount Tarawera for free?
No. In 2000 you could walk around Mount Tarawera for $2 without a guide. But now you must take a guided walk with one of the two authorised companies, Kaitiaki Adventures, and Volcanic Air.
Who owns the Mountain? Ngati Rangitihi.
And there’s no point in complaining about paying to go for a walk in NZ (yes, it pains me). Yet, that was so 2002 when the prices increased to over $100.
Now that that’s out of the way, read on to find out what you can expect on the Mount Tarawera guided walk
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DETAILS ABOUT THE MOUNT TARAWERA CRATER WALK
Rating?1
The Mount Tarawera guided tour is legit awesome. The drive out there which takes 45-60 minutes is a little annoying, but there’s no way to avoid that.
The guides were great and were able to answer all the questions we had. Once you’re on the volcano you’ll be wandering what planet you’re really on. There are crazy colours, few trees, and the distinct crater you get to walk into. Oh, and there’s the views and scree running.
When2: September 2020
Difficulty3: Easy – medium. ‘Hillary Step’ is what the guides call a short section that can be tricky if there’s some wind about. And the scree4 might be intimidating if you haven’t experienced it before. But the guides are great and will take care of you.
Hike Distance5: I forgot to start Strava at the start so missed the first few hundred metres. So adding in the first 300-400 metres, the walk was about 3km in total. This includes some aimless walking around at the viewpoints.
Incline6: My Strava data shows 192 metres of elevation gained, plus the 25 metres or so it missed at the beginning. I’ve got a feeling this might not be accurate (it won’t be too far off though). Given the walk is less than 4km over a couple of hours at a relatively low altitude, the elevation shouldn’t be a deal breaker. If anything, the navigating down the scree is trickier.
Walk Duration7: We spent about 2 hours and 15 minutes on the volcano. From what I understand this is about what you can expect.
MAP OF MOUNT TARAWERA CRATER WALK
You can’t find the walking trails on Google Maps, but the majority of the track can be seen on Maps.me which I’ve taken a screenshot of above. The blue circle is where we started the walk and the green pin in the top right is where we finished.
The satellite image of the walk from Strava looks cool too.
HOW TO GET THERE
The joys of a guided tour, transport to/from was included 🙂
Kaitiaki Adventures picked me up from the i-Site which was next to my hostel. We then went around and picked the others up from around town. There were only five of us on the tour so it wasn’t a major hassle.
MY MOUNT TARAWERA CRATER WALK EXPERIENCE
The day before the tour, I got a phone call from the Kaitiaki Adventures to:
- confirm the tour was on (they don’t run the tours under bad weather conditions for safety reasons)
- confirm the pick up time and place
The following morning, I was at the i-Site just before 10 am for the scheduled pick-up. Right on time the two guides for the day, Frank and Nicole rocked up in the jeep.
Another guest for the walk was here, and after quick intros, we went around to pick up the other three guests for the tour.
The jeep isn’t made for comfort with the seating in the form of benches along the sides ( like songthaews from Thailand). It wasn’t by any means super uncomfortable. Just don’t expect luxury.
Once we were all on board we were given the plan for the day. It’s pretty simple:
- we drive out to the Mount Tarawera entrance on the corner of Ash Pit Road and Crater Road
- use the 4WD to get to the top of the volcano
- walk around the volcano
- return the way we came back to Rotorua
The drive out there starts on the highway, but the last part past the farmland feels like you’re driving in a very remote area.
At Crater Road, Frank and Nicole converted the jeep to 4WD mode and the bumpy-ish drive up to the trailhead began. On the way, there’s a couple of viewpoints plus a toilet stop (long drops). Apparently, when the groups are larger and they need to use the bus, that can be a proper bumpy adventure.
On the drive Nicole and Frank told us some background on the Mount Tarawera Eruption which was cool. I didn’t realise the Pink and White Terraces were buried under Lake Rotomahana and might be excavated in the future.
At about 11:15 we arrived at the trailhead, we’d be going up to the Ruawahia Dome today (there are three domes).
We got started right away with a short walk following Frank up to the edge of the crater. There’s a small bit of elevation, but it’s only a 5-minute start. Once we got to the edge of the crater, we waited for Nicole to go and park the jeep at the finishing point and for her to walk back to us.
We started to learn about what we were looking, including more details about the eruption and the surrounding area. It was bank of scree opposite us. The guides were reassuring, letting us know where the final turn around point is if we felt we couldn’t carry on (very few have had to turn back in the past).
Our next stretch was along the edge of the crater to a viewpoint where we all started to take in a view, before preparing ourselves for the next step which would include scaling Hillary Step (the moniker is from Mount Everest).
I was enjoying the walk, with views in all directions. The trail was easy to follow, but they haven’t overly manicured it at all which is nice. I liked that the guides catered for the different paces within the groups as we naturally merged into a quicker group and slower group. One walked with each.
The Hillary Step would be dicey on a windy day that’s for sure. It’s a short sharp steep section (maybe 10 metres high?) with volcanic rock on the trail (which reminded me of the Rangitoto Island walk).
If you aren’t confident you can climb on your hands and knees if need be. The guides have your back too.
At the top of Hillary Step, we got the views above (and more). This one came equipped with an Instagram friendly rock which was where the first photo in the post was taken.
And the next section, another ascent at a mild gradient, is up to the summit of the Mount Tarawera (you’ll see a trig at the top) witha sign letting us know we’re 1,111 metres above sea level. The views are again amazing (you saw that coming right), with Lake Tarawera the main attraction. And there’s another Insta rock 😉
RELATED POST: WALKING THE TARAWERA TRAIL TO HOT WATER BEACH ON LAKE TARAWERA (FREE)
It took us about 45 minutes to reach the summit from the trailhead. They mention you’ll be on the volcano for about 2 hours or so of the ~4.5 hour trip.
After a short descent down the summit (remember, we’re doing an end to end walk so we aren’t walking back the way we came), we got to the spot where the adrenalin junkies will thrive. The first of two scree runs (or walks).
Running down scree isn’t easy, so make sure to listen to the guides for their tips (digging in with your heels is key). The first stretch of scree is about 300 metres long. I loved it! You can go as fast or as slow as you like…I kept up a solid pace but didn’t feel like I was going to fall. It’s a good stretch of scree.
Once we were back together we were now going down into the crater via more scree. When I look at the Strava elevation profile of the day, the two scree runs are about the same gradient. That said, the second one is where things can go wrong. The rocks are bigger, if you were to fall…you’ll have a boo-boo or two.
It’s pretty simple, the faster you go down the more risk of falling.
Again, this scree run was super cool. 10/10 would do again.
It was super fun to know we were in the crater which we’d been looking down into for the last hour or so. Nicole told us some info about the rocks and why they’re different colours (it’s to do with oxygen…I think?). Along with answering some our questions (about accidents coming down the scree of course).
Next up was to walk 500 metres along the bottom of the crater to the exit point.
The climb out for the last 100 metres is steep! With about 30 metres of elevation gain in 100 metres of distance, it’s a tough finish.
I attempted to run to the top, but the loose rocks defeated me as I slowed to a walk. I really want to go back and attempt that again.
After we got out of the crater we were only 100 metres or so from the Jeep. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the other four guests were like me and super stoked about what we’d just experienced.
And then it was simply a matter of driving back to Rotorua.
As you can tell from this post, I loved the guided walk of Mount Tarawera. As much as I hate having to pay for a hike, it was worth it for $99. Knowing the full price is north of $150 I’d be hesitant paying that much for the tour.
If you do go on the Mount Tarawera walk, I’d love to know how your experience was.
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The Blue Lake Circuit
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To the Summit of Rainbow Mountain (Near Rotorua)
This walk is a bit more of a hidden gem. But the views are amazing
Hey, it’s Jub here. I’m the guy behind Chur New Zealand, helping you have the best time hiking, trekking, walking…whatever you want to call it…in NZ. I’m based in Queenstown and am always out and about exploring trails, old & new. If you have any questions, reach out.