Qualla: Lake Waikaremoana

Lake Waikaremoana: Introduction

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit James Cowan, Public domain. The Māori named it Waikaremoana - 'sea of rippling waters' - and the name understates nothing. At 256 metres deep, it is the North Island's deepest lake, its surface sitting 600 metres above sea level in the heart of Te Urewera. Getting here requires commitment: kilometres of unsealed road winding through dense forest, no public transport, no nearby towns of any size. This remoteness is the point. Of New Zealand's ten Great Walks, the Lake Waikaremoana Track is the one where you are least likely to queue behind other trampers, least likely to lose the illusion of solitude. The lake does not advertise itself. It waits.

Read more: Lake Waikaremoana on Qualla

Image: James Cowan | Public domain

Lake Waikaremoana: Born of Collapse

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Paul Nelhams from Shannon, Ireland, CC BY-SA 2.0. Around 2,200 years ago, an enormous section of hillside gave way. The resulting landslide dam, roughly 250 metres high, blocked the drainage and water began pooling behind it. Lake Waikaremoana is the product of that catastrophic collapse - one of relatively few landslide-dammed ...

Read more: Lake Waikaremoana on Qualla

Image: Paul Nelhams from Shannon, Ireland | CC BY-SA 2.0

Lake Waikaremoana: Power from a Natural Dam

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Steffen Sledz (Zone42), CC BY-SA 3.0. The Waikaremoana Hydroelectric Power Scheme is a feat of engineering built on geological accident. Three power stations - Kaitawa, Tuai, and Piripaua - exploit a combined head of about 450 metres, generating up to 138 megawatts from a river flow of just 17 cubic metres per second...

Read more: Lake Waikaremoana on Qualla

Image: Steffen Sledz (Zone42) | CC BY-SA 3.0

Lake Waikaremoana: Walking the Great Walk

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Lake Waikaremoana Track follows roughly half the lake's circumference over three to four days, passing through forest that changes character with elevation - dense podocarp and broadleaf at the water's edge, beech forest climbing the ridges. Huts along the route require advan...

Read more: Lake Waikaremoana on Qualla

Image: Krzysztof Golik | CC BY-SA 4.0

Lake Waikaremoana: Tribal Waters

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Sarang, Public domain. The lake lies within the boundaries of three iwi: Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Ruapani, and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa. This is Tūhoe country - the 'Children of the Mist' - and the lake is bound up in their identity and their ongoing relationship with the Crown over Te Urewera. The smalle...

Read more: Lake Waikaremoana on Qualla

Image: Sarang | Public domain