Most trampers begin their Tongariro Crossing from the Mangatepopo side. From the carpark (just outside the photo on right) it is only half an hour to reach the hut.
A number of valleys in the park, especially around Ngaruhoe, retain the imprint of glaciers of the last ice age. Mangatepopo Valley is one of them. The glacier-sculpted lateral moraine can clearly be seen extending across the middle of the photo. Beyond it the Mangatepopo Track (part of the Tongariro Northern Circuit) crosses the tussock plateau that stretches about 8 km (5 miles) to Whakapapa Village.