Trip Overview
Blue Pools is a great Class II introduction to the Tongariro river. It is a roadside run downstream of the Class III Access 10 run.
It has a reliable year-round flow of about 16m3 and a number of schedule release days where it is allowed to flow at what would be its normal flow of 30m3 or more.
Shuttle
Continue south on SH1 past the Trout Centre and Red Hut car park and cross the Poutu stream bridge. A gravel track on the left doubles back through the pines and continues to the Blue Pools carpark.
The take-out is the SH1 bridge immediately north of Turangi. It is possible to park here and walk the Tongariro river trail up to the put in (you’ll need to inflate boats for a river crossing or two if walking all the way to Blue Pools.
On the River
This is a great reliable Class II run. For a spicy start to the trip it is worth walking ten minutes upstream until the access track runs out. The river has a gentler character than the upstream sections with few of the steep boulder banks that are typical of the Class III and IV sections upstream. There are some log hazards from time to time so keep an eye out.
There are some nice play spots to practice surfing so take your time. There is a fun wall rapid with buffer wave just before the Red Hut footbridge. This rapid will capsize the unwary beginner but as with most rapids on this reach, there is a decent pool for recovery.
After a few km of pleasant Class II, with the odd hole, there is a decent Class II+ wall rapid called Boy Howdy (by Ruahine club paddlers). It is worth running laps on this bouldery wall rapid to try different approaches and to see if you can catch the small eddy on river right. It’s a great learning spot with a nice recovery pool below.
There is an abundance of trout fishers along the lower Tongariro. Drifting quietly by is the appropriate etiquette. Most realise that the trout don’t care much about packrafts.
Gauge
The flow is regulated by the Tongariro power scheme. It runs at a steady 16m3. On scheduled release days it can run between 30m3 and 60m3.
Release days and gauges are here
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