© ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 
© ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 Ohakune & Tūroa
Waitonga Falls Track
Easy 4.0 kmreturn 1 hr 20 min return ↑ 316 m
Waterfall · Ohakune & Tūroa
Waitonga Falls
1,100 m WaterForestPanorama Famous view #7
The highest waterfall in the park, a 39 m curtain of water on the southern slopes of Ruapehu.
From Ohakune Mountain Road the track crosses the Rotokawa alpine wetland on a boardwalk, then drops through mountain beech to the foot of the Mangawhero River’s 39 m fall. A fine, varied walk that combines forest, wetland reflections and a big waterfall in under an hour and a half.
❄ Snow reaches the track a few times each winter; Ohakune Mountain Road may need chains or close above the track.
Waitonga Falls © ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 
© ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 Tracks that reach Waitonga Falls
© ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 © ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 
Ohakune & Tūroa
Blyth Hut
Intermediate 4.0 kmreturn 2 hr one way ↑ 608 m
© Sarang · Public domain 
© ShakyIsles · CC BY-SA 4.0 
Desert Road & Rangipō
Round the Mountain Track
Advanced 66 kmloop 4–6 days ↑ 2340 m
Also nearby
Wetland· 1,140 m · Ohakune & Tūroa
Rotokawa Pools
Alpine tarns that mirror Ruapehu’s southern peaks on a still morning.
Waterfall· 1,050 m · Ohakune & Tūroa
Mangawhero Falls
A roadside waterfall in a mossy gorge, filmed as Ithilien in The Lord of the Rings.
Filming location Mangawhero Falls Walk
Lake· 820 m · Ohakune & Tūroa
Lake Rotokura
A still forest lake sacred to Ngāti Rangi, with Ruapehu reflected in its water.