The Tongariro Crossing is touted as the best day hike in New Zealand. It’s a 13 miles trip across Tongariro National Park where hikers pass over the top of the saddle between two big volcanoes, Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Tongariro. As Lord of the Rings fans may know, Mt Ngauruhoe starred as Mt Doom in the films, and is a stunning perfect cone of a volcano. Having heard that the day hikers miss out on much of the beauty that the park has on offer, we decided to complete the full Tongariro Northern Circuit, a three day hike with huts to sleep in that includes the famous crossing and then loops around the northern half of the park.
The top of the Tongariro Crossing, alongside the Red Crater
On the first day we conquered the crossing and, for us, the obligatory side trip to the summit of Mt Doom with a whole lot of huffing and puffing. We’ve apparently gone a bit soft with all of the driving around we’ve been doing. (To be fair, even Frodo didn’t actually summit the mountain as he simply entered via the Cracks of Doom.) The second day took us over New Zealand’s only desert, a stunning moonscape of lava formations and geological activity (read: smelled like rotten eggs). On the third day we traversed back across the park through grasslands and beech forest, with more amazing volcano views.
As is to be expected, photos do a better job than words in capturing the beauty of this harsh and varied landscape. We’ve included a couple below, and be sure to check out the rest of the photos here.
The Red Crater
One of the Emerald Lakes
jason // Mar 28, 2010 at 6:17 am
What is a kilometer? So u hiked like 5 miles?
gray // Mar 29, 2010 at 8:48 pm
My apologies. Post updated to miles as to be better understood by Americans.