Tongariro River Trail

This morning we set out for the town of Tūrangi, about a 40 min drive from Taupō.  Tūrangi is the fishing capital of New Zealand, and home to lots of outdoor adventures, including relatively close proximity to Mt. Ruapehu (less than 45 min) which has two ski areas on it, river rafting, and it is the gateway to the Tongariro National Park.

Our goal was to get in a good day hike, and Tūrangi seemed like the roight place to do that.  Accessible via Tūrangi in the summer is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, reputed to be New Zealand's best day hike the trail takes you past mountain lakes as well as past Mt. Doom (actually called Mt. Ngauruhoe) from the Hobbit.  Because it is snowed in during the winter, we opted for a simpler trail near Tūrangi - called the Tongariro River Trail.  

After a quick breakfast at the Tūrangi Bakery & Cafe we were off and onto the trail.  We crossed the river on the sidewalk of a vehicle bridge, then the trail led us under the busy road and it quickly started to switchback its way up to the highest point of the hike.  After about a half mile of climbing we topped out and it was a gradual descent with the river on our righthand side as we walked through a forested area comprised mainly of small trees and shrubs.  

The path was well maintained and we were able to make good time - after an hour - about two miles into the hike - we reached Major Jones Bridge - the first suspension bridge across the river.  

We walked across for the view, but returned to the far side of the river to continue our hike.  As we went on the trail led along side cattle and sheep pastureland.

Reef spotted some light brown cows, which he dubbed “Butterscotch Cows”, we loved the name and were laughing and joking about butterscotch cows for a good portion of the hike.

Eventually after another couple miles the pasture gave way to forest - with much larger trees than the prior forested section.  

Throughout most of this area it was difficult to see the river even though you could almost always hear it.  The trees and shrubs were right up on the side of the trail throughout the entire length with few clearings where you could get a good view. As we went through the forest I realized that one section of trail - maybe 100 yards long, though flanked by shrubs and trees on the river side, essentially was built right on the edge of a cliff probably 100 feet above the river.  It would have been unlikely to fall given the vegetation hemming us in, but it was a bit surprising to realize the sloping forest which dropped down to the water had vanished in favor of a straight plunge!  

After getting a bit further down the trail we hit a long section of stairs which moved us from the high point above the river, down closer to river level - or roughly 20 - 30 feet above it.  

Soon thereafter we reached Red Hut Bridge the second suspension bridge on the trail, where, now about six miles into the hike, we crossed back to the town side of the river.

It was quicker going on the town side of the river, with the path much less circuitous.  Another mile down the trail we past the National Trout Center, which we had intended to stop at, but it was starting to get late and Sharyl and I knew that we were on borrowed time with both of the boys, who were doing great but it was starting to get a bit colder now and we'd been on the trail for over three hours.

A little past the National Trout Center we entered the Waikari Reserve, which was a beautiful forested section of the trail.  We switchbacked our way down to river level and suddenly found those open views of the river we'd been looking for over the last nine miles.  

When we reached Major Jones Bridge the lighting on the river was beautiful.  We got a few photos of the bridge and then continued on our way.  

When we finally tossed the bags into the car we had clocked 10 miles of hiking, by far the most Reef has hiked on his own without me carrying him at any point.  It was also River's longest stretch in the backpack, and both boys had done incredibly well.  We were super proud of them, and also cold - so we cranked up the heat in the car and headed back towards Taupō.

We finished the night with dinner at The Crafty Trout, Taupō's local brewpub, which I was super excited to try out. As it turns out the beer isn’t bad, but the name of the brewery is probably their best feature.  The food was marginal, but after a long day on the trail we were willing to eat anything!