National Park
The Tongariro National Park was New Zealand’s first National Park, and is a World Heritage Area. The park was created in 1887 when Te Heuheu Tukino IV, paramount chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa, gifted its three volcanoes, Ruapehu, Tongariro, and Ngauruhoe, to the people of New Zealand. Ruapehu is the most active of the volcanoes. It has a simmering crater lake and last erupted in 1996 showering most of the central North Island in ash.
