Tama Lakes from Whakapapa Village

From the car park by the visitor centre, walk east along Ngauruhoe Place to the lower Taranaki Falls track. It crosses tussock into beech forest, passes the closed Mangatepopo Track turn-off and follows the Wairere Stream to the foot of Taranaki Falls. Climb the steps beside the falls and turn east on the Tama Lakes Track, over tussock and past the Waihohonu track junction, to the lookout on Tama Saddle above Lower Tama Lake. Come back to the junction above the falls and go straight on along the upper track to the village.

It is 15.2 km round with 351 m of ascent; allow about 4½ hours. The grade is Moderate: long but gentle, on good tracks over open, exposed ground.

Ruapehu and Tongariro are active volcanoes: on 4 October 2026 GeoNet had Ruapehu at alert level 1 and Tongariro at 0, with no track near the village closed, so check the current levels. The saddle is exposed to strong wind and sudden cold, and snow can lie there in winter and spring. The climb to the Upper Tama viewpoint, an unformed route on an exposed ridge, is left out.

The car park is free. In winter village parking is limited to 3 hours, so this walk needs a free permit from the visitor centre. There is no bus; shuttles run from National Park Village, Ohakune, Tūrangi and Taupō.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.