Egmont National Park (33,500 hectares/129 square miles) is entirely made of the cone and slopes of Mt Taranaki (also called Mt Egmont), as well as the smaller volcanic constructions of Pouakai and Kaitake Ranges.

Specific references for this page: Gerald Cubitt and Les Molloy 1994: Wild New Zealand. New Holland. Craig Potton 1998: National Parks of New Zealand. Craig Potton Publishing. Llyod Homer and Les Molloy 1988: The Fold of the Land - New Zealand's Parks from the Air. DSIR/Allen & Unwin The People's Park - The Story of Egmont National Park. Department of Conservation 1988. New Zealand National Parks. Collins Nature Heritage Series 1979. Robbie Burton & Maggie Atkinson 1998: A Tramper's Guide to New Zealand National Parks. Reed John Cobb 1990: The Walking Tracks of New Zealand's National Parks. Penguin.

   When the park was created in 1900 the area set aside was described as the 'land comprised within a circle having a radius of six miles, and a centre on the summit of Mount Egmont', along with 'certain ranges of hills known as the Patua Ranges'. This is the land above an altitude of 400-500 m (1312-1640') on Mt Taranaki and Pouakai, and 200 m (656') on the Kaitake Ranges. It is entirely forested up to the treeline, except for swamp areas.
   Reaching 2518 m (8261') above sea level, Mt Taranaki stands high above the whole western North Island, far from any other mountain. Thus exposed to the prevailing weather it is the wettest place in the North Island, and supports lush native rainforests that are matched only by those of Westland.
See below: Activities - what to see and do in Egmont National Park

Geological setting
  Volcanic activity started in Taranaki about 2 million years ago, creating a volcano that was eroded to become the Sugarloaf Islands just offshore New Plymouth. Volcanic activity progressively moved south, creating the Kaitake Ranges (600,000 years ago), then the Pouakai Range (250,000 years ago), and finally Mt Taranaki (120,000 years ago). This series is due to the northward motion of the Australian tectonic plate over a local hotspot, resulting in the centres of volcanism progressively migrating southwards. Fanthams Peak, on the souther flank of Mt Taranaki, is considered to be the continuation of this trend.
   The whole ringplain that protrudes westward into the sea was built over that time, mostly by the accumulation of volcanic material brought down the volcanoes by lahars (highly mobile volcanic mudflows). Most visible today are the thousands of mounds scattered west of Mt Taranaki (outside the park), created by three lahar episodes respectively 23,000, 12-16,000 and 7000 years ago. The plains in the east of Mt Taranaki were created by a series of lahars between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago, which were subsequently covered by layers of tephra.
   Mt Taranaki is made of andesitic lava, like the volcanoes of Tongariro National Park. The rocks are a mixture of solid pyroclastic rocks (tephra), ashes, and lava flows, which lack cohesion and are easily carved by erosion. The softer deposits are dug into gullies and valleys, while the more resistant lava flows form the protruding ribs that stretch down the sides of the mountain.
See also Volcanoes in New Zealand

Climatic conditions
  Isolated in an otherwise low land and open to the weather conditions in all directions, Mt Taranaki creates its own climatic conditions. Its slopes are among the wettest in the North Island. While annual rainfall is 1000 mm (39 in.) in Hawera and 1500 mm (59 in.) in New Plymouth, it reaches 6500-7500 mm (256-295 in.) at 1000 m (3280') altitude, and probably 8000 mm (315 in.) at 2000 m (6560').
   However, while the mountain experiences 166 days of rain annually, it also receives 2110 hours of sunshine, resulting in plenty of fine weather. The weather is very changeable and difficult to predict. Temperatures can drop very rapidly and in winter soft snow can turn into ice in a matter of minutes.

Vegetation
  Vegetation in Egmont National Park has two sets of distinctive characteristics that are the result of having developed on a tall, isolated volcano.
  The first of these characteristics is that the change in plant types and associations with altitude is especially clear, in a series of zones that surround the mountain from sea level to the summit. At the lowest altitudes (about 500 m/1640') grows a dense rainforest of kamahi interspersed with tall rimu and rata, with some of the richest epiphytic growth in New Zealand. As altitude rises the giant podocarps become rarer and kamahi dominates, their trunks and branches often covered in mosses, liverworts and filmy ferns.
   Above 900 m (2952') is a belt of mountain cedar (kaikawaka) and mountain totara, which forms the tree-line. It is followed up to about 1200 m (3937') by sub-alpine scrub, dense and almost impenetrable, rich in species such as leatherwood (Olearia), mountain coprosma, Dracophyllum (inaka or grass tree). Higher up tussock spreads to about 1400 m (4593'), with red tussock and silver tussock as the main species. The tussock fields contains many heabaceous plants including mountain daisies (Celmisia), the Egmont Ourisia, native lilies (Astelia), and orchids.

  It is in this alpine zone that the second distinctive characteristic of Egmont National Park's vegetation can be found: a large number of species endemic to Mt Taranaki, or that have produced populations or forms quite distinct from those of the same species elsewhere. They are thought to have colonised from either Ruapehu or the mountains of Nelson and Marlborough, before evolving specific characters in isolation.
   Another character related to isolation is the total absence of beech in the park This is thought to be the consequence of the limited dispersal power of beech seeds, which did not allow the species to re-colonise the mountain after destruction by volcanic events. The seeds of kamahi, by contrast, are easily dispersed, allowing the species to regain ground quickly after volcanic destruction.

Wildlife
The North Island brown kiwi is found in the forests of Egmont National park. Other birds include New Zealand pigeons, bellbirds, tomtits, riflemen, New Zealand pipits.

The forests provide habitat for many species of insects, as well as spiders, millipedes, centipedes. An interesting invertebrate is Peripatus, a small animal of very old ancestry which shares characters with both arthropods and annelids.
The park is especially rich in moths. Several species are either endemic to Mt Taranaki, or shared only with Mt Ruapehu. Other species, very common in the South Island, are found in the North Island only on Mt Taranaki, thereby adding to the unique ecological character of Mt Taranaki in New Zealand.

Activities - What to see and do in Egmont National Park

Short and day walks
  Accessed via three roads high on the flanks of Mt Taranaki, the montane forests and the alpine areas of Egmont National Park are among the most accessible in New Zealand.
  At the altitude of the roadends the forest is dominated by kamahi. A number of walks are available to discover and enjoy the special character of this montane rainforest, where the twisted and tangled trunks and branches are covered in mosses, lichens and filmy ferns.
  With increasing altitude the succession of altitudinal vegetation zones is clearly delineated, from the kamahi forest and its upper zone of kaikawaka (mountain cedar), through scrub, and into the herbfields of tussock and alpine plants.
     Depending on the tracks chosen a number of volcanic features can be observed, such as the lava flows of Dieffenbach's Cliffs and Humphries Castle.
  Several tracks lead into the Pouakai Range, with spectacular views of Mt Taranaki and the Ahukawakawa Swamp.

Walks to the summit
There is a route to the summit from each of the roadends. These are long walks in more difficult and steep terrain, especially exposed to the weather conditions.

Tramping
  The Around-the Mountain Circuit is a popular tramping track, usually done in 5 days, or 3-4 days if the summer higher altitude alternative track is used. Huts are conveniently located about one day apart. The track passes through some of the most spectacular parts of the park, high on the sides of Mt Taranaki.
  The Pouakai Ranges also offer a combination of tramping routes.