Monitoring insights for the Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Sustainable management means understanding and being responsive to the cultural, environmental, social and economic effects of change. For the Tongariro Alpine Crossing DOC has access to data from:

• activity counters on the track,
• the booking system,
• the Hazardous Weather Alert system,
• track and toilet maintenance records,
• feedback from staff, as well as information shared by other organisations.

These can be used to develop insights to help us respond to pressures and improve management of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing over time.

More insights will be added to this page as it becomes available.

Visitor statistics 2023/24

The following numbers are estimated using activity counter and booking data. They may be revised as more data is collected and tools are refined:

• Up to 105,000 visitors used some, or all, of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing between 1 October 2023 and 8 April 2024.
• Approximately 95,000 walkers were included in nearly 39,000 bookings, and observations suggest this was 90% of all visitors.
• Booking data shows that 80% were international visitors and 75% used concessioned transport or guides.
• 10-20% of visitors were doing a shorter return walk, mostly from the Mangatepopo car park.

This is consistent with patterns from previous years. It assumes booking data patterns are representative of all visitors.

Around 6,000 people may have walked the Tongariro Alpine Crossing as part of longer overnight trips. These include Te Araroa, Tongariro Northern Circuit Great Walk or the Round the Mountains track. This is based on available data for those experiences.

Limitations

These estimates have an error margin of +/- 10% because:

• Activity counters are not an exact count of visits or visitors.
• There were no checks on the numbers of people who turned up for a given booking.

The estimates should not be compared to historical data. This is because they are based on data from different measurement instruments in different locations along the track.

DOC is currently trying to resolve a technical issue in retrieving data from activity counters installed before June 2022. When that work is complete, we will be able to share a comparison of the last season with longer-term trends.

Peak days 2023/24

While annual activity creates pressure on maintenance of the track and potential introduction of weeds, peak days put pressure on the Manaaki Rangers who welcome and care for visitors, and DOC’s ability to clean the toilets.

We estimate that in 2023/24 there were up to 10 days when over 1,500 people visited the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, and 2 days when over 2,000 people visited. Peaks occurred for 2 days in a row only once, between Christmas and New Year. Peak days are more likely to occur around New Zealand public holidays when domestic visitors add to the steady flow of international visitors. These estimates may be updated as more data is collected.

Weather 2023/24

Weather appears to be the biggest influence on busy days.

Hazardous Weather Alerts were issued on 54 days between 1 October 2023 and 30 April 2024. While these were more likely to occur in autumn and spring, these warnings can arise in any month, and the patterns vary from year to year.