Lake Taupo and Huka Falls

New Zealand'S Largest Lake, Filling The Caldera Of A Supervolcano That Last Erupted Around 232 AD, With The Waikato River Draining Out Through The Narrow Blue Green Chute Of Huka Falls And Some Of The Best Trout Fishing And Lake Front Geothermal Hot Pools In The North Island · Taupo, Waikato

Lake Taupo fills the caldera of a supervolcano whose last major eruption, around 232 AD, was among the most violent anywhere on Earth in the last five thousand years - ash from it reportedly reddened skies as far as Rome and China. The lake itself is enormous, roughly the size of Singapore, ringed by low hills with views south to the volcanic peaks of Tongariro National Park. At its northern outlet the Waikato River, New Zealand's longest, is forced through a narrow rock chute at Huka Falls, where the lake's full outflow squeezes down to about fifteen metres across and drops with startling force and colour - a turquoise-blue churn rather than a tall waterfall. The township of Taupo on the lake's eastern shore runs on tourism built around the water: the lake and its feeder rivers are known for trout fishing, watersports fill the summer, and free, naturally heated lake-edge hot pools are fed by the same geothermal system that powers much of the central North Island. It is a working holiday town, lively in summer and quiet for much of winter.

Central North Island, about 3.5 hours south of Auckland, Taupo, Waikato, New Zealand

Lake Taupo and the Huka Falls lookout have no gate and are viewable at any hour, free of charge, with the falls lit for a couple of hours after dark in the main summer season. The Huka Falls visitor car park and the short walkway open roughly dawn to dusk. Boat cruises and jet boat trips to the falls and lake-edge hot pools run on fixed daytime timetables, typically 9am to 5pm, with extra evening departures added in summer. The free public hot pools below the Taupo township are unsupervised and open around the clock, though water flow and temperature shift with the geothermal field and sometimes run too hot or too cold to be worth a stop.

Lake Taupo and Huka Falls on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos