One of the most beautiful hikes in New Zealand
The Tongrario Alpine Crossing is one of the most beautiful hikes in the world, because it goes through different vegetation zones, although it only takes about 6-8 hours to finish. As so often in New Zealand everything here is only possible via tours or shuttles. Taupō is widely chosen as the gateway to the trek (I also did so). But there is no public transport from Taupō to this place. So you have to pay 92NZ$ to be picked up and brought back because the starting point is around 2 hours away from there. Even people with a car have to figure out something here, because the starting and the end point are not the same on this trail.
Big variety of landscapes
Shortly after 5 am I was picked up from my hostel and around 7 am the small minibus reached the beginning of the tour bus. It is 19,4 kilometres long in one direction and brings you close to steaming vents and springs, breathtaking rock formations or peculiar moon landscape pools. The trail starts at the western end near the Mangatepopo hut with a slight incline to the foot of the steep Tongariro saddle. After the ascent to the saddle the trail leads over descents and ascents in and out of two different volcanic craters, which perhaps Lord of the Rings fans will recognize as some of the movies scenes were filmed here. It continues past the Emerald Lakes and along the edge of the Blue Lake. The last two hours of the hike include a long descent along the north flank of the volcano, past the Ketetahi Hot Springs.
Very crowded in summer, much more difficult to hike in winter
During the summer months more than 700 tourists walk this way every day. In some places there are so many hikers on the way that it gets jammed as as the tour buses all arrive between 7-8am. In winter, the difficulty of the trail increases considerably, as the upper passage is often icy and you even have to bring alpine equipment to hike it. This is also the reason why there are some warning signs indicating if you are ready for the trek, as some deaths have occurred here. Otherwise, the hiking tour is not very challenging. Until 2007 the crossing was called "Tongariro Crossing", but this was changed to "Tongariro Alpine Crossing" to emphasize the extreme weather conditions on the exposed terrain. Almost the entire length of the crossing consists of volcanic terrain without vegetation and is fully exposed to the weather - at moderate altitude. I took my time and finished the hike in just over 6 hours.
Beautiful hike but no the best
The joy of this hike is very much dependent on the weather, in my case the weather was not excellent, but still good enough to get some nice views of the volcanic formations without too many clouds blocking the view. If you are in New Zealand I definitely recommend to do that hike but surely it is not the most beautiful hike I have ever done and it is also too crowded to fully enjoy it. I did hikes for free with almost no people which I rank higher than this trek.
