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In
a country where mountains are bunched together,
Mt Taranaki in the Egmont National Park stands
alone. This beautiful near perfect conical shaxped volcano is 2518 metres
high. The Maori named the mountain 'Taranaki' and Captain Cook named it 'Egmont'
some 3 centuries later after the Earl of Egmont. In 1881 the provincial government
declared a 9.6 km radius forest reserve from the mountain's summit, covering
29,000 hectares. It accumulated another 2400 hectares by the time it became
New Zealand's second national park on 23 October 1900.
Mt Taranaki, the most
climbed mountain in New Zealand and is home to about 50 rivers as well as pristine temperate rainforest and sub alpine plants. From Dawson Falls (850 metres above sea
level), there's a maze of walks on offer, but perhaps the most popular is
to Wilkies Pools, a series of eroded rock pools connected with gentle waterfalls.
East Egmont (845 metres), accessed through Stratford, offers the mountain
skifield as well as the short Kamahi walk through the Goblin Forest, with
branches bearded in grey-green moss.
North Egmont recieves 7 metres of rainfall per year and in some years it exceeds the rainfall of Milford Sound which is one of the wettest places in the world.
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