Below is an interactive map. Please go to the bottom of the map, and select your walk or cruise by clicking on the appropriate link.
Then move the mouse along the path shown to see specific information about features of your chosen route.
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the links below to show different tour routes.
Waimangu Highlights/Easy Walking
Self Guided Easy Walking. Price includes our internal shuttle bus use.
Easy walking tours along the crater walkways through the Waimangu Volcanic Valley followed by the Lake Rotomahana Cruise.
Allow 1 hour for the shortest walk and up to 2 hours to walk from the Waimangu entrance through to the Lake Rotomahana Jetty.
| | Waimangu Advanced Hiking Self guided easy-moderate hiking trail. Price includes use of our internal shuttle bus service. Spend as much time as you like using our network of walking paths and hiking trails to traverse the Valley down to Lake Rotomahana and back again. There is an opportunity to cover more than 8kms of hiking within Waimangu Volcanic Valley taking in all the spectacular geothermal features along your way. |
Lake Rotomahana Boat Cruise Lake Rotomahana covers approximately 15 coalescing craters formed by the 1886 Tarawera Eruption. It took 15 years after the Eruption to fill to its current height and is now the deepest lake in the North Island.The lake is protected as a wildlife refuge, and large numbers of birds live here all year round. The lake and surrounding land are protected from development, and will always remain as one of New Zealand’s beautiful, unspoilt, natural, wilderness areas. |
Easy Walking/Advanced Hiking + Boat Cruise Take the walk/hike through the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, followed by the Lake Rotomahana Cruise.Allow 2 – 2.5 hours to walk from the Waimangu Entrance through to the Lake Rotomahana Jetty.
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Inferno Crater
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The steaming pale blue jewel of Waimangu lies in an 1886 crater blown in the side of Mt Hazard. Inferno Crater is the largest geyser-like feature in the world. Inferno Crater and Frying Pan Lake have a unique and mysterious connection as they follow complicated rhythmic cycles of filling and receding. |
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Echo Crater &
Frying Pan Lake
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Frying Pan Lake covers 38,000 square metres and is the world’s largest hot spring with an average depth of 6 metres. Listen to the eerie sounds coming from the hot springs and fumaroles about Frying Pan Lake and Echo Crater. |
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Cathedral Rocks
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This steaming monolith was completely changed in shape by the eruption of the Frying pan flat eruption in 1917. It is composed of massive rhyolitic lava which is at least 60,000 years old, much older than Tarawera Volcano. |
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Marble Terrace
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Composed of similar material to that of the Pink and White Terraces destroyed in the 1886 Tarawera Eruption, these buttresses have been successively built in layers over time. The silica rich water is supplied by a nearby spring in Iodine Pool. |
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Warbrick Terrace
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A set of multi-coloured, fast growing silica platforms have been deposited over time to make a dam across the warm stream draining through the crater. Named after the Warbrick family who were intimately connected with the history of this area. |
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Lake Jetty
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The boat cruise leaves from this point for a 45 minute circle of the lake viewing geothermal and historical points of interest. See the sites of the once world famous Pink and White Terraces destroyed by the Tarawera Eruption in 1886. Tickets are usually available from the boat captain. | 
Starhill Crater
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This small crater was formed by the 1886 Tarawera eruption and was originally separate from the main Rotomahana crater. Now the crater is linked by a narrow passage. Starhill Crater has a very sheltered position and its warm microclimate has encouraged the re-establishment of plants. |
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