The Taranaki Falls are located within the Tongariro national park, the walk to the falls is the most popular walk in the park, a 6km loop track that will take you around 2 hours return.
Hidden around the loop are the Lord of the Rings (LOTR1-LOTR15) series of caches.
The track is part of the Te Araroa Trail, and passes through varied alpine environments:
- native beech forest
- open tussock
- alpine shrubland
At the falls water plunges 20 metres over ancient lava flows into a boulder-ringed pool.
A hexagonal table is near the cache, a place to rest and is a welcome lunch stop.
According to Māori Legend, Taranaki used to live with the other volcanoes (Tongariro, Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe) within the park, but after a fierce battle with Tongariro over their love for Pihanga, Taranaki fled defeated westward to the Tasman sea.