Activities
The main activities are hiking and climbing in summer, and skiing and snowboarding in winter. There is also opportunity for hunting, game fishing, mountain biking, horse riding, rafting and scenic flights.
Mount Tongariro and its surroundings are one of the several locations where Peter Jackson shot the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy; tours to view these places are commonly arranged by the tour's operators and lodges.
The most popular track in Tongariro National Park is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. Most of the track is also part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit, a two to four day tour, which is one of New Zealand's nine Great Walks. Side trips to the summits of Mount Tongariro and Mount Ngauruhoe are possible on these tracks. Another route is the three to six day Round the Mountain Track around Mount Ruapehu. Besides these, there are numerous shorter tracks appropriate for day tramps. With this track net, three camp sites, two emergency shelters, nine public and four private huts and the facilities in Whakapapa, the park is well developed for tourism. These tracks also serve as winter routes, as well as the track to the summit of Mount Ruapehu. Rock-climbing is also an option.
Snow season is from late June to early November. The biggest ski area, also called Whakapapa, is on the north-western slopes of Mount Ruapehu. It has 15 lifts, covering an area of 5.5 km². Directly next to the ski field are 47 ski club huts; most of them also accommodate non-club members. The next settlement is on the bottom, in Whakapapa. A slightly smaller ski field called Turoa is on the south-western slope. Though it has only nine lifts, the skiing area, of 5 km², is almost as large as Whakapapa's. There is no accommodation at the ski field; the nearest town is Ohakune. These two ski fields came under common management in 2000. Ski passes can be used on both fields, and a lift or run from one field to the other is planned. Beside these major ski fields, there are also the Tukino ski area, privately run by the Desert Alpine Ski Club, and the Aorangi Ski Club on the south-eastern slope. It has two nutcracker rope tows, and covers 1.9 km².
Read more about this topic: Tongariro National Park
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—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
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—Minnie Maddern Fiske (1865–1932)