Mt Taranaki

Active Stratovolcano located just east of New Plymouth on the North Island of New Zealand. 2nd highest mountain on the north island and was used as the backdrop in the film 'The Last Samurai' due to its similarity to Mt Fuji. You can see it all the way from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing on a clear day! It should only be climbed in summer unless you have proper mountaineering experience, even then expect it to be snow/ice capped. An excellent and challenging walk to the summit with a bit of everything - scree/hiking/scrambling/crossing ice plains.

Lookouts

Toilets

Scrambling or Climbing

Coastal

2518m

Maximum Elevation

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Getting there

Located 30mins from New Plymouth. The walk starts from the North Egmont Visitor Centre at the end of Egmont Road.

Route/Trail notes

From the visitor centre there is a steep hike up to the Tahurangi Lodge (60-90mins), good place to assess the weather and decide whether to continue. From there climb a massive stair case up to the start of the scree fields. Very steep on loose gravel and rocks, very easy to lose your footing. Passing the scree fields you will get to the start of the scrambling section. Follow the pole markers all the way to the top (they are numbered with pole #1 located at the top of the scrambling section). At this stage you have the option to cross the ice covered crater to get to another short climb to the summit. The summit offers 360 degree views hundreds of kms in any direction on a clear day!

Permits/Costs

Nil Cost

Other References

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/taranaki/places/egmont-national-park/things-to-do/tracks/mount-taranaki-summit-track/

GPS Tracks

No GPS available for this walk yet.

Comments

Fantastic mountain with incredible views! It took around 8hrs up and back and was very draining. Passing the Tahurangi Lodge I ascended into the clouds and didn't think I would get to see any view from the top but was pleased to find the summit was just above the cloud layer. The crater was totally engulfed in cloud and the GPS came in handy directing me to the summit. The scree field is probably the most dangerous part of the hike. We had a big rock shoot right past us while making our way down that someone further up must have inadvertently dislodged. Quite a few people climbing although a lot turned back before the summit thinking there would be no view due to the cloud cover. Really glad I didn't!!
Vonsnrub on 12 Feb, 2019

Spent the last day of the year... scaling my home town mountain. The most challenging climb I'd done. 9 hours. Worth pushing to the peak in every sense of the word.
Nicole Howarth on 30 Dec, 2015