Taranaki Falls

Tongariro National Park / Ruapehu, North Island, New Zealand

About Taranaki Falls

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Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Taranaki Falls was a waterfall that flowed over an ancient lava flow, which gave rise to its 20m drop.

Situated near the three volcanoes anchoring Tongariro National Park, I got to experience the fickle weather for myself when I did this hike two-hour hike solo.

Taranaki_Falls_056_11162004 - Taranaki Falls
Taranaki Falls

It started off under some inclement weather, but then the weather changed to clearing skies just as started to reach the beautiful waterfall.

Mt Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe, and Mt Tongariro were essentially like cloud magnets so it tends to rain almost every day here.

Given the bad weather and persistent cloud cover, I wasn’t able to get decent views of the famous volcanoes when I did this hike.

However, I’d imagine it would have really added to the experience under clearer skies.

Taranaki_Falls_023_11162004 - Frontal look from the base of Taranaki Falls
Frontal look from the base of Taranaki Falls

Since Julie and I were staying at the Chateau Tongariro at the foot of Whakapapa Village, I was able to do the entire loop hike right from the hotel.

The First Half of the Taranaki Falls Loop Track

I began by walking along SH48 to the back of the accommodation, then I walked along Ngauruhoe Terrace, which was one of the side streets immediately behind the Chateau Tongariro.

I walked this street for about 200m to the first trailhead that I encountered to my left (near the Skotel Alpine Resort).

Therefore, I ended up starting the hike going in this direction meaning I would eventually do the hike in a clockwise loop.

Taranaki_Falls_002_11162004 - On the wide open brown tussock grasslands as I was leaving Whakapapa Village to get onto the Tongariro Northern Circuit towards Taranaki Falls
On the wide open brown tussock grasslands as I was leaving Whakapapa Village to get onto the Tongariro Northern Circuit towards Taranaki Falls

I immediately walked onto a dirt trail that was flanked by tall tussock grasslands that would have had expansive views all around with some of Tongariro National Parks’ famous volcanos rising above me.

It turned out that this section of track was part of the longer Tongariro Northern Circuit, which was one of the multi-day Great Walks of New Zealand.

However, it really started to rain hard by the time I got to this point in the hike.

Therefore, I was pretty much focused on staying on the trail, watching my step (as my vision was somewhat limited from the hood of my rain poncho), and paying attention to the signs to ensure I stayed on the correct path to Taranaki Falls.

Taranaki_Falls_004_11162004 - Sign at a trail junction within a lush native forest area while walking the Taranaki Falls Loop
Sign at a trail junction within a lush native forest area while walking the Taranaki Falls Loop

About 30 minutes from Whakapapa Village, I reached a trail junction within the lush native forest as the scenery changed from open tussock lands to the green of the quintessential New Zealand bush accustomed to consistent rains.

This junction was where I left the Tongariro Northern Circuit and proceeded onto the bush trail following the Wairere Stream (more or less) where the sign here indicated that I still had 40 minutes to go.

As I continued walking through this covered part of the track, I noticed some tiny cascades here and there before I ultimately made my way out of the bush where I crossed a bridge (traversing the Wairere Stream).

After the bridge (about 25 minutes from the departure of the Tongariro Northern Circuit), the scenery was a bit rockier but it pretty much followed the Wairere Stream all the way up to Taranaki Falls.

Taranaki_Falls_013_11162004 - Looking at Taranaki Falls with some weird hexagonal table that I wasn't sure what it was for
Looking at Taranaki Falls with some weird hexagonal table that I wasn’t sure what it was for

I noticed some weird infrastructure like a low hexagonal table that I wasn’t sure what it was for.

I ultimately found some open use trails that led right up to the boulder-fringed base of the impressive waterfall.

Around the plunge pool, the waterfall produced a lot of spray as a result of its recent injection of water from the bad weather.

As I had my fill of this close-up perspective of Taranaki Falls, I then walked up a few switchbacks.

Taranaki_Falls_040_11162004 - Looking back at Taranaki Falls from a rest bench while ascending switchbacks leading up to the Tongariro Northern Circuit
Looking back at Taranaki Falls from a rest bench while ascending switchbacks leading up to the Tongariro Northern Circuit

One of the switchbacks had a well-positioned bench along with a nice view back at Taranaki Falls.

Ultimately the track rejoined the Tongariro Northern Circuit at the top of the climb.

As the sign predicted, it took me a little over an hour to get to this point from where I started.

I made a couple of short detours on both sides of the bridge over the Wairere Stream to get a good top down look over Taranaki Falls.

The Second Half of the Taranaki Falls Loop Track

Taranaki_Falls_064_11162004 - Looking over the top of Taranaki Falls towards the meandering Wairere Stream making its way along the fringes of bush on one side and open terrain on the other
Looking over the top of Taranaki Falls towards the meandering Wairere Stream making its way along the fringes of bush on one side and open terrain on the other

Next, I kept right and took the Tongariro Northern Circuit back to Whakapapa Village.

I was further helped along by the fact that the weather started clearing up along this stretch of the trail.

The remainder of the hike was undulating gently through more open tussock grasslands with a few surprise ephemeral waterfalls seen randomly about.

It seemed like with the latest injection of rain, there was a gully following along the track that seemed to flow as if it was a creek or something.

Taranaki_Falls_077_11162004 - Looking down over a stream along the way back to Whakapapa Village from Taranaki Falls to complete the circuit walk
Looking down over a stream along the way back to Whakapapa Village from Taranaki Falls to complete the circuit walk

I somehow got the feeling this stream was more a result of a little bit of trail engineering than a natural stream.

Eventually after nearly 2.5 hours of this moderate but pleasant bush walk through volcanic landscapes and rainforest, I was back at the other trailhead at the end of the Ngauruhoe Terrace Road.

And from there, it was another 5-10 minutes or so walk back to the Chateau Tongariro and a nice hot shower…

Authorities

Taranaki Falls resides in Tongariro National Park near National Park in the Central North Island region of New Zealand. It is administered under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Maps and Routing Content are for annual subscribers. See Membership Options.
Content is for subscribers. See Membership Options.
Tagged with: tongariro, northern circuit, ruapehu, whakapapa, central plateau, north island, new zealand, waterfall, national park, manawatu, wanganui, whanganui



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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