Mount Wellington / Maungarei

BY JULIAN THOMSON (OUT THERE LEARNING)
Accessibility: EASY
View across the top of the reservoir near the parking area, J.Thomson / GNS Science
An almost circular and steep sided cone of scoria, second youngest volcano in Auckland.
The summit of Mount Wellington, J.Thomson / GNS Science
After Rangitoto, Mount Wellington is the next youngest Auckland volcano, having erupted about 10 000 years ago. It consists of a very steep sided scoria cone enclosing three craters. One of these has been made into a flat-topped water reservoir.
Mt Wellington produced extensive lava flows, mainly to the west and southwest. These are now largely built over. The thick lava beds on the west side of the cone were quarried for aggregate until 2008.
Crater of Mount Wellington, J.Thomson / GNS Science
It is a 10 minute walk from the parking area to the summit. You can continue to complete the circuit around the rim with not too much difficulty. An exploration inside the craters will allow you to study scoria fragments, and a look at the small exposures on the crater wall will show you the internal structure of the upper part of the scoria cone, consisting of blob shaped bombs and fragments heaped up and draped over each other before they were completely hardened.
Directions/Advisory

Access the Ellerslie Panmure Highway and follow it until you are to the south of Mount Wellington (ie the cone is to your left). Turn onto Mountain Road and follow this along and round a ninety degree right hand bend. Turn left up Maungarei Memorial Drive which circles up the steep side of the cone to the car park.

Google Directions

Click here for Google driving directions

Accessibility: EASY

If the ground is not too muddy, it is possible to take a wheelchair across the flat field on top of the reservoir, to get a view into the crater.

Features
Volcanic
Geological Age
About 10 000 years old
Zealandia Evolution Sequence
Pākihi Supergoup: 5 million years ago – present
Links
Hayward, B.W. 2019. Volcanoes of Auckland: A field guide. Auckland University Press: p.194-200. https://aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/volcanoes-of-auckland-a-field-guide/ For a full description of Auckland's volcanic features including many places to visit;see the excellent book "Volcanoes of Auckland;The Essential Guide" by Hayward;Murdoch and Maitland;Auckland University Press 2001;