"Mount Tarawera" a Lake Tarawera Travel Page by kiwi

Back in 1886 Mt Tarawera erupted causing all sorts of devastation in the Rotorua area. Now it is possible to visit the crater, even jumping into it! Catch a local tour or drive yourself to the bottom of the mountain and walk up. Either way, you must have a permit to do this. Only 4WD vehicles can drive up the mountain, so catching an organised tour is usually your best option.
The whole trip is possible in one day, just a few hours if by helicopter!
Some people are happy to trek to the edge of the crater and just look into it, but by far the most fun thing to do is walk around the edge to the point where you can jump over the side and “run” down the scree sloped into the heart of the crater.

If this was solid ground you could never run down here. But it is soft, small pebbles that your feet sink into whereby it "holds" you up and allows you to remain upright. This is a very lot of fun and lots of screams! If you want to stop, you have to lie down.

It is very steep, but once you get going and have faith in what you are doing, then you just boogey on down.
It's a long way down!
Look way down the bottom of the crater and see my little daughter who took off!!!!

It can be pretty spooky looking over the edge, but this is a very popular trip for New Zealand school groups like this one.