Lakes Rotoaira and Rotopounamu: Between the Volcanoes and Taupō

ALSO well worth a visit are Lakes Rotoaira and Rotopounamu,two beautiful lakes which lie halfway between the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park and Lake Taupō.

Both lakes are bordered by native bush and closely overlooked by the bald-topped Mount Pihanga, visible at centre-right in the aerial photograph below.

Lake Rotoaira was raised in the 1970s for the purposes of the Tongariro Power Scheme. It is privately owned and you need a permit to go boating or fishing.

But the smaller of the two lakes, Lake Rotopounamu, is quite unmodified, public, and totally surrounded by bush. A walking track off StateHighway 47 goes all the way around Lake Rotopounamu.

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Note

This post is referenced in my new book The Neglected North Island: New Zealand's other half.

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