Tongariro Northern Circuit · Stage 1
From the car park to Mangatepopo Hut, 25 minutes. This is also the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing: parking here is limited to 4 hours in the season.
Best season: 23 October to 30 April (the Great Walks season). The Department of Conservation's 2026/27 Great Walks season runs from 23 October 2026 to 30 April 2027, with wardens and gas in the huts. Oturere Hut is closed while it is rebuilt until 18 December 2026: before then the walk from Mangatepopo to Waihohonu is 20 km in a day over hard ground. From May to late October (DOC's winter season) the circuit is alpine terrain under snow and ice, with avalanche risk on Red Crater greatest from July to October: DOC says to walk it then only with alpine skills, equipment and experience. Before you go
Facts read from the operators' own pages and OpenStreetMap on 27 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with the hut before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Trailhead · 1,120 m
The 2026/27 start, at the end of Mangatepopo Road. Parking here is limited to 4 hours in the Great Walks season: park at Whakapapa Village (a free overnight permit from the visitor centre) and take a shuttle.
Stage end · overnight
Staffed mountain hut · 1,190 m · Department of Conservation
Make it your trip
The huts are booked all year, online (same day until 8 p.m.) or at the Tongariro National Park Visitor Centre; no space is held for walk-ins. DOC's track page says campsites are booked all year too, its campsite pages say first come, first served outside the season: book to be sure. Camp only at the hut campsites, never within 500 m of the track; the planner's nights are the huts.
Four days, a night at each hut: the 2026/27 route.
Plan this journeyWhile Oturere Hut is closed: Mangatepopo to Waihohonu in one 20 km day.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for on the trail (1,158 m)…
Typical weather on this stage, around 1,120–1,195 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed |
| Day / night | 21°/6° | 20°/7° | 18°/5° | 14°/3° | 10°/1° | 7°/-1° | 6°/-2° | 7°/-1° | 10°/0° | 13°/1° | 16°/3° | 19°/6° |
| Rain, mm | 144 | 160 | 146 | 132 | 160 | 162 | 185 | 216 | 320 | 213 | 213 | 255 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible | Possible | Possible | Possible | Frost | – | – |
| Daylight | 14 h 38 | 13 h 35 | 12 h 24 | 11 h 06 | 10 h 02 | 9 h 26 | 9 h 39 | 10 h 33 | 11 h 47 | 13 h 03 | 14 h 14 | 14 h 54 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Tongariro, Ngāuruhoe and Ruapehu are active volcanoes. On 27 September 2026 GeoNet's alert levels were 0 for Tongariro and Ngāuruhoe and 1 for Ruapehu; if the level rises at Tongariro or Ngāuruhoe, DOC closes tracks near the craters. The hazard zone is 3 km around Te Maari, Red Crater and Ngāuruhoe.
DOC: volcanic riskEach hut night in the Great Walks season costs an international adult NZ$66 and a New Zealand resident NZ$44 (children $33 / $22); a campsite night $28 / $19. From 1 May to 22 October the huts cost $25 an adult.
DOC: Great Walks pricingCarry a distress beacon: the Tongariro National Park Visitor Centre at Whakapapa hires them out (+64 7 892 3729, 8.30 to 4). For search and rescue call 111.
DOC: distress beaconsGetting there
Travel around Mangatepopo car park to Mangatepopo Hut.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
Buses and trains stop at National Park Village, 15 km from Whakapapa. Park at Whakapapa Village with a free overnight permit from the visitor centre and take a shuttle to the Mangatepopo car park: parking there is limited to 4 hours in the season.
DOC: Tongariro Northern CircuitTake your trip with you
Prepare every day while you have a connection: phone reception is fairly good but has gaps, and there is little or none at Waihohonu Hut.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
For the 2026/27 season the Department of Conservation starts the circuit at the Mangatepopo car park and ends it at Whakapapa Village: the Whakapapa to Mangatepopo section is closed after the 2025 fire damaged its structures, so it is not a loop this season. DOC gives 35.5 km, plus 1.7 km from the car park to Mangatepopo Hut. The line here joins the Tongariro Alpine Crossing's and the circuit's relations on OpenStreetMap (planet of 21 September 2026), 36.9 km, with the closed section left out; the times are DOC's.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 27 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Department of Conservation: Tongariro Northern CircuitMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation