Tongariro Northern Circuit Huts: The Changed Route, Fees and Bookings

The 2026/27 route

The 9.4 km (5.8 mi) section from Whakapapa Village to Mangatepopo Hut is closed after the 2025 Tongariro fire and will not open for the 2026/27 Great Walks season. DOC has cut the circuit from 44.9 km (27.9 mi) to 35.5 km (22.1 mi) and says to start from Mangatepopo car park, ending at Whakapapa Village.

DOC says the circuit can be walked in either direction and that most walkers take 3 or 4 days. From Mangatepopo car park, these are its stages:

• Car park to Mangatepopo Hut: 1.7 km (1.1 mi), 25 min
• Mangatepopo Hut to Emerald Lakes: 8 km (5.0 mi), 3 hr 30 min, over the Red Crater
• Emerald Lakes to Oturere Hut: 4 km (2.5 mi), 1 hr 30 min
• Oturere Hut to Waihohonu Hut: 8.1 km (5.0 mi), 3 hr
• Waihohonu Hut to Whakapapa Village: 15.4 km (9.6 mi), 5 hr

Booking and parking

Every hut and campsite night is booked, in and out of the season, and DOC does not allow camping within 500 m of the track. Outside the season, 1 May to 22 October, a hut night is NZ$25 and a campsite night NZ$10 for any adult, with no hut warden or gas cooking.

In 2026 Great Walk bookings opened at 9:30 am NZ time on DOC's booking service, bookings.doc.govt.nz, with a virtual queue. DOC's 2026 tips: make an account and test your login before the day, and be online by about 9:15 am. Our guide on how to book a Great Walk covers the rest of the system.

DOC has not announced the 2027/28 opening day. Going by past seasons, booking for the Tongariro Northern Circuit usually opens around 6 May to 6 June. Last year's opening, for stays from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027, was Thursday 21 May 2026 at 9:30 am NZ time.

Parking at Mangatepopo car park is limited to 4 hours in the season. DOC suggests parking in Whakapapa Village, with a free overnight permit from the Tongariro National Park Visitor Centre, and taking a shuttle to the start. A circuit hut or campsite booking also covers the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, which otherwise needs its own booking.

The peaks

Climbing Mounts Ngauruhoe and Tongariro is disrespectful and unacceptable to Ngāti Tūwharetoa, the iwi who gifted these sacred peaks to the nation. The circuit passes active volcanic vents, and DOC says to choose a different track if that risk is not for you.

Changing or cancelling

Date changes stay inside the 1 July to 30 June booking season, and DOC does not move a booking to a different hut or campsite. Cancelling costs nothing on the day you book or the day after (if your first night is more than 2 days away). After that DOC keeps 10% of a Great Walk booking from 15 or more days out, 50% from 14 to 4 days out, 75% from 3 days out, and all of it on the day you arrive.

What PermitSnag does here

Each permit page says whether you can set a PermitSnag alert for it, and links to the agency that sells it.

Questions