If you've ever seen that iconic photo of Taranaki Maunga, chances are it was taken at Pouākai Tarn. This is one of the most popular photography locations on the North Island. If you visit on a still, sunny day, you’ll get treated to a perfect mirror-like reflection of Taranaki Maunga in the water.

There are multiple ways to get to Pouākai Tarn. However, the quickest and easiest is via Mangorei Road in Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki.

Track overview

Difficulty: Moderate

Length: 10km return

Time: 4 hours

The trail starts from the carpark and follows a boardwalk through native bush. Although this means your feet won't get saturated if there's been heavy rain, the boards are oddly spaced, and we kept getting our toes stuck between them. We were behind another group of hikers complaining, saying they wish they had known to leave their hiking poles at home. So, if you usually carry poles, skip them for this trip.

After about an hour, the bush starts to thin, and you get your first view of the area. Walk a little further, and you'll reach Pouakai Hut. From there, it's another 10-20 minutes to the tarn. The view at the tarn knocked our socks off, and we couldn't believe how lucky we got with the weather.

Know before you go

While it's beautiful, I was surprised to find that Pouākai Tarn is an optical illusion. It looks huge on social media but is actually quite small in real life. The photos you see online are perfectly uninterrupted, almost as if you'll have the whole area to yourself. But what they don't show you are the 20–30 people eating their lunch, queued up for the iconic photo. This sounds like a terrible Instagram vs Reality experience, and I don't usually like crowds, but this was a lovely experience. We spoke to lots of other hikers and stood around laughing as we helped each other take photos. Humans are wholesome sometimes.

We sat down, cracked open our packed lunch, and eventually headed back the way we came. It was definitely a day to remember, and even though it's different in real life, it's still one of my favourite hikes on the North Island.

How to get there

To get to Pouākai Tarn, start at the Mangorei Road Carpark in Te Papa-Kura-o-Taranaki. There are lots of spaces, but it fills up fast. We arrived at 11 am and got the last spot. There are public toilets here too (use them, because the next ones aren’t until Pouakai Hut, about 1.5 hours in).