Tongariro National Park

Tongariro National Park is in the middle of New Zealand's North Island. It is the country's oldest national park and was the sixth national park in the world. UNESCO lists it as a World Heritage Site for both its nature and its culture.

Three active volcanoes stand at its heart: Ruapehu, Ngauruhoe and Tongariro. The park is famous for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which many people call one of the best one-day hikes in the world. It passes Mount Ngauruhoe and the bright Emerald Lakes. The land was gifted by Ngāti Tūwharetoa chiefs in 1887, and the globe card dates the park to that gift.

Mountains with a spirit

In Māori legend, the volcanoes are people. One story says Tongariro and Taranaki both loved Pihanga, and after a great battle Taranaki fled west, carving the Whanganui River on the way. Many summits, including Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu, are tapu, or sacred, and some Māori see the peaks as the heads of their ancestors. In 2017, the Department of Conservation asked visitors not to climb to the summits. Ngauruhoe played Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings films.

Nature and the park

The park has temperate rainforest, beech forest, tussock shrubland and alpine ecosystems, with native birds and plants found only in New Zealand. Three ski fields operate on Mount Ruapehu, which is 2,797 metres high. The park covers about 796 square kilometres. Korean Wikipedia dates its official founding to 1894, and the gift of land to 1887, so the dates differ by source.

On the globe

The model shows steaming volcanic peaks with the green Emerald Lakes. Look for the cone of Mount Ngauruhoe.