Lake Rotokura

Taupo & the Ruapehu Region


For some peaceful moments away from the mountains, consider a walk to this bush-smothered lake, the centrepiece of the Lake Rotokura Ecological Reserve, 14km southeast of Ōhakune. The track passes the paradoxically named Dry Lake, which is nothing of the sort, and then rises over a low wooded ridge to larger and less-reedy Lake Rotokura, 15 minutes from the car park. Rotokura is tapu (sacred) to Māori, so eating, fishing and swimming are prohibited, but there are picnic benches back by Dry Lake.

A more overgrown track loops for another 20 minutes around Lake Rotokura.

To get here, drive 11km southeast along SH49 from Ōhakune, then 3km from the turn-off along Karioi Station Rd. Cross the railway line and continue until you reach the car park at the road's end.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Taupo & the Ruapehu Region attractions

1. Big Carrot

6.25 MILES

Maybe not so much 'Don't Miss' as 'Impossible to Miss', this roadside tribute to Ōhakune's biggest crop was erected in 1984. Carrots were first grown in…

2. National Army Museum

8.8 MILES

At the southern end of the town, in a large, almost-Stalinist concrete castle, is the National Army Museum. Proclaimed as ‘history without the boring bits…

3. Mt Ruapehu

10.24 MILES

Mt Ruapehu (2797m) is the North Island's highest mountain and one of the world’s most active volcanoes. One year-long eruption began in March 1945,…

4. Mt Ngauruhoe

19.63 MILES

Northeast of Ruapehu, Mt Ngauruhoe (2287m) is the national park's youngest volcano and the most classically perfect in its conical shape. Its first…

7. Mt Tongariro

21.53 MILES

Ongoing rumbles are reminders that all the volcanoes in this area are very much in the land of the living. In 2012 Te Maari, a crater on Mt Tongariro …