Rotorua Hiking | Mt Tarawera Guided Volcanic Crater Hike Experience - 4.5hrs

Posted by Pashel Hollands from Australia on4 Apr 2026

arrow_back Rotorua Hiking | Mt Tarawera Guided Volcanic Crater Hike Experience - 4.5hrs

Pashel Hollands said... The views over the lake and surrounding mountains are breathtaking. I appreciated the opportunity to descend into the crater. The pace of the hike was a little quicker than I am used to but there was plenty of opportunity for slower members of the group to catch up. I was picked up and dropped off to and from my hotel exactly at the stated times. There were some steep sections on both ascent and descent, including a short scramble over rocks. At many times during the hike, the leaders gave the opportunity for anyone to turn back if they were not comfortable proceeding (up to the rock scramble which was considered two risky to descend). As an experienced hiker, I have never attempted a steep scree descent before and would not have considered this without the excellent instruction from the leaders. They gave clear instructions in how to do the scree descent safely and we had the opportunity to practise on a gentle slope before attempting the steep one. I put what I had learnt into practise again when doing the Tongariro Crossing two days later. The only disappointment with this activity is a lot of the ascent was done by the bus driving up the track. We were already very near the summit when we started walking. Overall, highly recommended and I commend the guides for being both friendly and competent.