Lake Waikareiti, is located in Te Urewera National Park. A number of hiking trails are found within the catchment basin of the lake.
Its formation followed a landslide 18,000 years ago, in which a part of the landmass of 10 kilometers wide slid to the north-west. It is four kilometres to the northeast of the larger Lake Waikaremoana, into which it drains via the Aniwaniwa Stream. The smaller lake's surface is at an altitude of 880 metres above sea level - considerably higher than that of Waikaremoana - and as such the stream has several fine waterfalls such as the Aniwaniwa Falls and Papakorito Falls.
Several small islets are found in the lake. One of these, Rahui, itself contains a tiny lake - one of New Zealand's very rare lakes within lakes.