History

HISTORY

THE RESERVE

In the late 19^th Century, people in the Rotorua community, Maori and European, became increasingly concerned at the loss of native forest on Mount Ngongotaha.

In the early 1900s, the Scenery Preservation Commission recommended the acquisition of a large area of bush as reserve. After much discussion, a reserve of 480 acres around the summit was created in 1916.

In 1918, the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce wrote to the Government advising that “The Rotorua Chamber of Commerce, having heard that Mr. Stead is negotiating for the sale of his property on Mount Ngongotaha, deems it their duty to urge upon the Government the absolute necessity of acquiring the land as a scenic reserve.” As a result, 250 acres was added to the reserve.

Various pieces of land were later acquired by negotiation or exchange and added to the reserves. The total area of the Mount Ngongotaha Scenic Reserve is now 524 hectares. (SEE MAP BELOW)

TIMBER INDUSTRY

Not much is known about historical Maori use of timber trees on the mountain. There was rapid removal of timber following the arrival of Europeans. Only the southern slopes were protected by reserves and remained unlogged.

In 1926, a sawmill and six homes were built on the south-west slopes of the mountain, with a tramway (light railway) to transport the logs from the mountain.

By 1935, most of the mountain was bare of forest, apart from the areas already preserved as Scenic Reserve. This caused some concern, as shown by the following extract from the Auckland Star of 6 July 1935.

“….the last remnant of forest on the slopes of Mount Ngongotaha is to be felled and milled………for the sake of a paltry bit of building material….”

Since the 1930s, the logged forest has been recovering, and most of the mountain is once more covered in forest.

JUBILEE TRACK

Prior to 1890, local residents had been asking the government for foot and horse access to the top of the mountain to enjoy the view. Eventually, locals took matters into their own hands and with “axes, tomahawks and billhooks” completed a “very respectable” track in about 4 hours. The following is from the Bay Of Plenty Times of 3 Feb 1890.

“On this Day (Jubilee Day, 29 January 1890) a number of our stalwart members of society, horny handed sons of the soil, formed themselves into a working bee and cut a track to the top of Ngongotaha.”

The Jubilee Track today follows much the same route as the original except for changes of access and some minor diversions that make it less steep.

GEOLOGY

Mount Ngongotaha, at 757 m asl (450 m from base to summit), is the largest of several rhyolitic dome volcanoes in the Rotorua volcanic centre. Others are Mokoia Island, Kawaha and Hinemoa Points, and Pukeroa , or “Hospital Hill”. The main feature of this centre is the Rotorua caldera (or Rotorua basin), a 15 km-wide crater occupied by the present lake. Formerly thought to be the result of a single titanic outburst, the basin is now considered to be the result of several eruptions, the earliest of which occurred in the vicinity of Mount Ngongotaha. There has not always been a lake in the basin. Indeed, for most of its history it has been a dry valley, with a small pool (draining underground) towards its centre. On the other hand, on at least six occasions the lake level has been over 50 m above its present level, including a period about 180,000 years ago when it was about 150 m above its present level, making Mount Ngongotaha an island.

During the last Ice Age from 25,000 to 28,000 years ago, the harsh weather conditions completely stripped the summit of Mount Ngongotaha above 500 m of all loose soil.