Tongariro: New Zealand's volcanic trek is a Great Walk again – loop due in December

The hiking season has begun in Tongariro National Park on New Zealand's North Island. According to the Department of Conservation (DOC), the Great Walks season runs from October 23, 2026 to April 30, 2027. After a break last season, the Tongariro Northern Circuit holds that status again. Huts and campsites must be booked and cost more during this period: according to DOC, a night in Waihohonu Hut costs 44 New Zealand dollars for New Zealand adults and 66 dollars for international visitors.

The circuit is not yet a full loop, however. According to DOC, fires in late 2025 damaged the Mangatepopo Track between Mangatepopo Hut and Whakapapa Village. The route therefore currently runs from Mangatepopo Carpark to Whakapapa Village and is 35.5 instead of 44.9 kilometres long. According to a DOC release of September 4, the repaired section is due to reopen in mid-December. "Without it the Tongariro Northern Circuit hasn't been a circuit," said DOC principal ranger Jenny Hayward. The new 28-bed Oturere Hut has been delayed by bad weather; it can be booked from December 18.

The trek takes three to four days and passes the vivid Emerald Lakes and Red Crater. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), three active volcanoes – Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngāuruhoe – rise from an upland plateau; Ruapehu has had at least 40 steam and ash eruptions and lahars in the last 150 years. For Māori, the mountains are ancestors. UNESCO inscribed the park as World Heritage for its natural values in 1990, and in 1993 it became the first property inscribed under the revised criteria for cultural landscapes.