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Accessibility: EASY
WHAT'S HERE?
Mt St John scoria cone and crater from the south. Photo Bruce Hayward.
Mt St John is a prominent and well preserved basalt scoria cone with a small crater and the source of the longest lava flow in the Auckland Volcanic Field. See Meola Reef entry. Its upper parts are in a public reserve - a quiet oasis in the midst of busy suburban Auckland.
LEARN ABOUT IT
Mt St John crater and small crater lake after rain.
Mt St John is one of the smaller volcanic cones in the Auckland Volcanic Field. All 53 volcanoes in the field erupted within the last 200, 000 years and Mt St John was one of the earliest.
It consists of a steep-sided scoria cone with a bowl-shaped central crater. Fire fountaining of frothy lava from the crater built up the scoria cone. Lava flowed out from the lower northern slopes of the cone and down an existing valley that led all the way to the Waitemata River (now drowned as the Waitemata Harbour), before Mt Eden had erupted.
The crater is lined with impermeable volcanic ash erupted from some of the surrounding volcanoes, especially Three Kings. As a result the crater often has a shallow crater lake in the wet season.
It consists of a steep-sided scoria cone with a bowl-shaped central crater. Fire fountaining of frothy lava from the crater built up the scoria cone. Lava flowed out from the lower northern slopes of the cone and down an existing valley that led all the way to the Waitemata River (now drowned as the Waitemata Harbour), before Mt Eden had erupted.
The crater is lined with impermeable volcanic ash erupted from some of the surrounding volcanoes, especially Three Kings. As a result the crater often has a shallow crater lake in the wet season.
HAVE A LOOK!
A large pre-European pit used for storing crops in a roofed partly undergroun building.
Is there water in the crater? If so why do you think?
Why is one side of the crater lower than the rest?
Are the terraces and pits on the crest and down the sides natural? If not how were they formed?
Why is one side of the crater lower than the rest?
Are the terraces and pits on the crest and down the sides natural? If not how were they formed?
-36.8834000140846
174.779895544052
Directions/Advisory
Walking access up tracks from Market Rd, Mt St John Ave and Belvedere St.
Steep grassy slopes can be slippery, especially when wet.
All the tracks have grassy sections.
Google Directions
Accessibility:
EASY
Easiest from Market Rd between numbers 101 and 103 where a farm track leads more gently up to the crest of the scoria cone.
Features
Volcanic
Landform
Matauranga Maori
Geological Age
Erupted about 75,000 years ago.
Zealandia Evolution Sequence
Pākihi Supergoup: 5 million years ago – present
Links