I travelled from Auckland down the East Coast, one of my places that I wanted to visit was the hot pools.

After driving over 500km I was met by a muddy section of road only 3km from my destination that was impossible to get through in my campervan. So disappointing 😞

Reviewed 3 months ago

This was one of my most favorite spot.

Quiet. Not busy on the week days in February when we were there. Clean. Primitive but nice. Pit toilet. Water is from a stream. Have to boil or filter yourself.

Camp host was very nice.

The river is a 5 min walk from the campsite. But it is quite a steep hill. The hot tubs are 2 min walk from the campsite with a some what steep hill but better than the walk to the river.

MOST important is the drive into campsite. The road from Napier is curvy and long. Then you drive on a gravel road for 30 mins which feels like an hour. At which point you are on a single lane steep hills and tight turns a supreme caution is necessary or else you could die or be seriously injured. When your on this road the cliff is probably 600-800 feet down.

Be sure if you are uncomfortably driving on non paved wilderness roads this may not be for you. They road is well maintained in my opinion. I made it in a Toyota Estima no problem. I saw a Nissan Versa and Audi station wagon. I never bottomed out or hit any part of the frame.

But beautiful spot. Possibly one of my most loved.

Also beware of the bugs at dusk to night time.

Reviewed over 6 years ago

I definitely recommend this place!

I definitely recommend this place! Nice space to camp, some tables for picnic, and hot pools! Besides the toilet is quite nice (ample) compering to the typical tiny camping toilets. Just maybe quite crowded in peak seasons.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Great spot to relax.

I have been coming to this spot for over 15 years and previously you would not find another person at the pools. Now there is always people there and some times very crowded. Tourist and others are leaving large amounts of rubbish there and not cleaning up. Don't waste your time driving over rutted rocky gravel road just to sit in this hot pool.

If how ever you going to actually do some hiking / tramping or hunting / fishing it is a good spot to start from. BUT PICK UP YOUR RUBBISH.

Also have seen a few cars broken into while people sitting in the hot pools and with no cell phone signal you may be stranded if you break down.

Reviewed almost 9 years ago and experienced in October 2015

Nice place with natural hot pool!

Remember there are more campsites if you go on driving after you see the campsite sign. And more sites within the bushes as well. Bring your own coal for the BBQ. No drinking water or tap water.

Reviewed almost 10 years ago

Amazing campsite that is well worth a visit.

A bit of a bumpy road to get in that would be better suited to a 4WD but did see a couple of other car types there that made it in.

Free, clean hot pools with a brilliant view. Little nooks along the path to camp in for a more private site. One of the most incredible rivers I have ever seen, however quite hard to get down to at the moment. Can tell there used to be a better path but rain has washed away a lot of the steps and both routes down from the campsite (the marked one and then another sneaky one about 3 mins long down from the right of the hot pools) are now quite tricky and can’t really be classed as access to running stream water easily. Wouldn’t want to carry anything up or down (water containers, dishes) as need your hands to hold on to things going down, but once your down it is a beautiful spot to swim in.

Will definetely go back.

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

Be warned there is a Ford about 5km before the campsite which had red indicators saying do not cross.

I walked it and it really didn't seem doable without a 4x4 so we couldn't get to the site although we`d done a 90 min d-tour to get to it. Shame as I'm sure it is a great place to camp. There were were signs all the way there suggesting the road was open so there could certainly be better advice here!

Reviewed over 6 years ago

One of the best spots so far in the North Island.

Many New Zealanders. Not many tourists. Nice camp warden. Clean toilet, with the smell of citrus. And beautiful hot pools. To cool down you can climb down to the river and jump in.

Reviewed almost 9 years ago

One of the best spots for free.

Toilet facilities, BBQs views over native bush and the mighty Mohaka and to top it off great maintained easy to access hot pools, also over looking native bush.

Reviewed almost 10 years ago

This was an amazing experience.

the road to get there is daunting at best but well worth the perseverance. nice and private camping spots and the hot springs were excellent (just like the pic!). the river was the best part and worth the climb down, the most peaceful place on earth. fully recommend this spot!

Reviewed almost 12 years ago