点评:The Tongariro National Park is famous for the Tongariro Crossing which my sons did in 2019. Being much older, with an aversion for hilly walks and worried that it would be too difficult for me, I chose instead to do the Taranaki Falls (loop) Track which leads onto the (one way then return) Tama Lakes Track and has views of Mt Ngauruhoe (also known as Mt Doom from LOTR) and Mt Ruapehu along most of its length. This didn't get rid of the hills entirely but did make them more manageable. All these tracks are well-formed with appropriate steps. There is a section near Tama Lakes where you have to ford a stony creek but we didn't get our feet wet. You park in the very generous parking along the main road. There is a toilet close to the turnoff to the way back along the ridge which is easy to miss if you continue onto Tama Lakes though there is another toilet there. Bring your own toilet paper.
So as part of the Tama lakes walk you also walk the Taranaki Falls Track which is a loop track which starts at Whakapapa village then wends along a pleasant creek towards Taranaki Falls then you head up to the top of the falls and head back to along the ridge to Whakapapa which is a little more exposed. It is a pleasant walk and the view of the Taranaki Falls is magnificent and we saw many people with children and babies successfully accomplish it. It is possible to go down the Falls pool as a few brave souls did.
We decided to continue on the walk to Lower Tama Lake which ended up being about 20 km return. We didn't do the additional clamber up to Upper Tama Lake. Unfortunately, the ranger centre doesn't have maps of these walk because they consider them "short" even though we were prepared to pay for one! We did take pictures from the maps in their centre though. You traverse a number of saddles - rises and descents - to get there. Both us and some people we met just planned to get to a view of one of the Lake Tamas but there is no distant view, you have to get there to see it.
翻译:汤加里罗国家公园以汤加里罗穿越步道而闻名,我的儿子们在2019年走过这条路线。由于我年纪大了,不太喜欢爬山,而且担心这条路线对我来说太难,所以我选择了塔拉纳基瀑布环线步道。这条步道与塔玛湖步道(单程往返)相连,沿途大部分路段都能欣赏到瑙鲁霍伊山(也称《指环王》中的末日火山)和鲁阿佩胡山的景色。虽然这条路线并没有完全避开山丘,但确实让徒步变得轻松许多。所有步道都维护良好,设有合适的台阶。在塔玛湖附近有一段需要涉水过一条布满石头的溪流,但我们没有弄湿鞋子。主路旁有非常宽敞的停车场。在返回山脊的岔路口附近有一个厕所,如果你继续沿着山脊走,很容易错过这个厕所,不过塔玛湖那边还有另一个厕所。记得自带卫生纸。
作为塔玛湖步道的一部分,您还会走一趟塔拉纳基瀑布步道。这是一条环形步道,起点位于瓦卡帕帕村,沿着一条宜人的小溪蜿蜒而行,最终到达塔拉纳基瀑布。之后,您可以登上瀑布顶端,再沿着山脊返回瓦卡帕帕村,这段路程略微有些险峻。这是一条令人愉悦的步道,塔拉纳基瀑布的景色壮丽无比。我们看到许多带着孩子和婴儿的游客成功地完成了这段徒步。一些勇敢的人甚至尝试了从瀑布潭中下去。
我们决定继续前往下塔玛湖,全程往返约20公里。我们没有攀登到上塔玛湖。遗憾的是,护林员中心没有这些步道的地图,因为他们认为这些步道“较短”,尽管我们愿意付费购买!不过,我们还是根据中心提供的地图拍了照片。前往上塔玛湖的途中,您需要翻越几个鞍部——时而上升,时而下降。我们和我们遇到的一些人原本计划去看看塔马斯湖,但是那里没有远眺的景色,你必须走到那里才能看到。