The Round the Mountain Track is a classic walk that circumnavigates Mt. Ruapheu. This multi-day walk has waterfalls, snow capped peaks, native forest, open tussock, and varied volcanic landscapes.
Although I’ve spent a lot of time in the Mt. Ruapehu area I had not yet experienced what is now one of my favourite places on the North Island – the round the mountain track. I’ve snowboarded on all three ski fields, done the shorter day hikes (tama lakes, Taranaki falls, lake surprise, and the Tongariro crossing), but hadn’t done this walk yet. We recently spent four days enjoying about 2/3 of this walk. I would highly recommend this as a multi-day walk in New Zealand.
Round The Mountain Track – Highlights and Logistics
Highlights – Volcanic landscapes, scenic views, beech forest, waterfalls, rivers, tussock flats, Mt. Ruapehu views, and Mt. Ngaruhoe.
Location – Central North Island at Tongariro National Park
Difficulty – Medium/Hard
Length – 66.2 km loop, 4 – 6 days (Ohakune mtn. road to Whakapapa village is about 45 km, 3 – 4 days)
About the Round The Mountain Track
The route described here is starting from the Ohakune Mountain Road going in a counterclockwise direction.
This walk starts in a lovely beech forest and follows along well maintained series of boardwalks as the waterfall is a popular day trip.
After just under one hour the track arrives at Waitonga falls. The track continues past the stream, enters the bush and quickly becomes more remote passing by few other walkers.
The track alternates between beech forest and open tussock areas between the falls and the hut.
3 hours of walking and the track arrives at Mangahuehue hut, a nice hut set in a tussock clearing adjacent to some beech forest.
The walk from Mangahuehue hut to Rangipo hut takes about 5 hours. Upon leaving the hut, the track becomes more rugged as it passes through more beech forest before emerging into a truly foreign volcanic landscape.
The track follows a poled route across the open tussock flats and rocky landscape, climbing down to a drainage and up the other side. Long views head off to the south and east as the trail carries on around the south of the mountain and begins heading up to the east.
About half way to the Rangipo hut, the track climbs steadily up to the top of a ridge from which breathtaking views are had of the Waihianoa gorge. The large glacial valley of the Waihianoa gorge drops down below you with a stream running through it and unimpeded views up to the snow capped peaks of the main mountains above you. The track drops precariously down to the stream, crosses on a narrow bridge, and then beings a tough ascent.
From the bottom is quite a steep, arduous climb up the other side. Then the track carries on across this alien landscape before a long steady climb up to the hut, which can’t be seen until you are suddenly on top of it.
Rangipo hut is a small hut, perched on the side of Ruapehu at 1,600 m with a lovely, large porch out front, begging for you to sit and stare out at the views.
We were told that from Rangipo hut to Waihohonu hut was mostly downhill and easy, but the next 5 hour day was not quite that easy. The track still has some ups and downs as it traverses the eastern side of the Ruapheu massif across a desert landscape.
The highlight of the day, and likely my new favourite spot on the North Island is when the track drops down to and crosses the Whangaehu River.
Here’s another view of this amazing location.
After that the track climbs a bit to cross the Tukino ski field road, and then begins a longer, flattish stretch across open ground before finally crossing a crystal clear stream coming from Ohinepango springs and then a mere 1 km later arriving at the luxurious Waihohonu hut.
The Waihohonu hut is along the great walk, and while only sleeping 24, has tons of tables in the common area all with views.
The final day for saw us beginning the long moderate climb up to the saddle between Mt. Ruapheu to the south and Mt. Ngaruhoe to the north. Wow! Again, the views were awesome to take in and also gave us a sense of the grandness of the landscape. Shortly past the saddle is the junction to tama lakes, a short worthwhile detour.
From tama lakes it was about an hour along well formed trails to the top of Taranaki Falls and the masses of people coming up for a day walk and the beginning of the end of our sojourn into the solitude and wilds of Mt. Ruapheu. From Taranaki falls you can either take the high or low path back to Whakapapa village, both of which take about 45 minutes.
We picked up our car at Whakapapa village, but the full walk carries on from here for another 2 – 3 hours to Whakapapiti hut. Most of that walk is through forest along a well maintained trail. From that hut it is a good 5 – 6 hours across volcanic terrain, crossing streams, and exposed before passing by lake surprise and then arriving at Mangaturuturu hut.
From that hut is a short 2 hour walk back up some old lava flows, passing by swimming holes, before climbing up to the Ohakune mountain road.
Round The Mountain Track Flora and Fauna
In January we were lucky enough to see heaps of flowers – Manuka shrubs, hebes, north island eyebright, cotton daisy, and a capebell.
The forest is home to the usual common forest birds, but in the subalpine zone on the east side of the mountain we spotted a banded dotterrell! Super cool as that is a shore bird that is usually found along beaches.
My Insider’s Tips to the Round The Mountain Track
There are a number of different places to begin this walk or to just to do sections of it. Most people start and end at Whakapapa village. However, you could also start at the Ohakune Mountain road (which is what we did). The trail heading east starts lower down the road than the trail coming from the west, which is a bit awkward and requires walking down the road for several kms. One option would be to drop people and bags at the lower, east-bound trailhead, then move the car to the upper spot and walk down the road with no bags. Then when you finish from the west the car is there.
Huts and campsites – most of the huts and campsites along this walk are a first come, first serve basis. However, Waihohonu hut is shared by people on the Tongariro Northern Circuit great walk and must be booked in advance. That hut fills up quickly, so book that one in advance and plan your trip around it.