Mangaturuturu Rapids are roughly a 25 minutes' drive away from Ohakune Village or 50-60 minutes from National Park Village. The road surface is always sealed.

From Ohakune travel north on Goldfinch St, which becomes Mangawhero Terrace and finally becomes Ohakune Mountain Rd. Stay on this road for 17.5 km. There is a well-signposted parking at Ohakune Mountain Rd (on your left) with sign ‘Round the Mountain Track’. There are no facilities there.

From the parking follow the tramping Round the Mountain track. The first part of the track can be quite challenging due to some landslips, but the good news – this section is very short! Then the track becomes much easier and crosses the lava ridge. There are scenic waterfalls seen on your right while you’re walking this section. Make sure you have time to relax and enjoy. Roughly in 30-45minuntes (depends on your speed) you reach the stream and the upper cascades. Here, the track descends to Mangaturuturu Valley via the Cascades. The descent can be quite challenging, especially in rainy/icy weather! Extreme care is required.

The lower cascades are the most charming and beautiful (on the main photo). The descend from the upper to the lower cascades takes roughly 20-40 minutes, depends how often you stop to take photos. We hugely recommend walking down to the lower cascades base.

Return via the same track, in this case the total walking time will be roughly 2-3hrs. Or continue to the Mangaturuturu Hut, which is 30 minutes’ walk away from the lower cascades (requires river crossing) and stay there overnight, or, which is a very popular option, return via Horopito Track. For the last option, a transport needs to be organized to pick you up from Horopito. Total walking time is 4.5hrs.