Taranaki Falls are one of the Tongariro National Park’s most impressive and accessible waterfalls.
The walking trail that takes you to the falls begins right in Whakapapa Village and, depending on which end of the 6km, two-hour loop you begin at, meanders through open alpine tussock or beautiful beech forest.
Walk alongside the Wairere Stream with its cascading waterfalls skimming over smooth, ice-worn rocks and spot grey warblers, rifleman and whiteheads fluttering amongst the tall mountain beech trees.
The dramatic Taranaki Falls is a soaring 20-metre-high waterfall plunging over the edge of an ancient lava flow – the remnants of one of Mount Ruapehu’s eruptions 15,000 years ago.
