1 / 3Hell's Gate Geothermal Park and Mud Spa
📍 Tikitere, Bay of Plenty
Best for a hands-on geothermal afternoon. A guided or self-guided walk past mud volcanoes and a hot waterfall, a Māori carving session, then mud baths and sulphur pools that take children from toddler age.
Our visit to Hell’s Gate Geothermal Reserve was an absolute highlight of our trip to Rotorua. The experience was made even more special by our guide, AJ, whose knowledge, passion, and genuine connection to his Māori culture brought the tour to life. AJ thoughtfully incorporated Māori blessings and prayers throughout the tour, adding a meaningful cultural dimension that made the experience both authentic and memorable. He was incredibly engaging, sharing fascinating facts about the geothermal reserve while balancing them with plenty of humour. His jokes kept the whole group entertained and laughing from start to finish! If you're visiting Rotorua, I can't recommend Hell’s Gate highly enough - and if you're lucky enough to have AJ as your guide, you're in for an unforgettable experience. Thank you, AJ (and the staff member at the carving station too) for making our visit so informative, entertaining, and culturally enriching.
🏆 Family Action Verdict
Choose Hell's Gate over the other geothermal parks if your kids want to do rather than just see: the guided walk keeps them engaged, and the spa is unusually child-friendly, with mud baths from two and a half years and sulphur pools from six months. Allow about three hours for the full combo. Carving is for twelve and up, so younger ones watch.
ℹ️ What to Know Before You Go
💬 What Families Are Saying
View all reviews →4,217 Google reviews
Natalie Kerkman
“Our visit to Hell’s Gate Geothermal Reserve was an absolute highlight of our trip to Rotorua. The experience was made even more special by our guide, AJ, whose knowledge, passion, and genuine connection to his Māori culture brought the tour to life. AJ thoughtfully incorporated Māori blessings and prayers throughout the tour, adding a meaningful cultural dimension that made the experience both authentic and memorable. He was incredibly engaging, sharing fascinating facts about the geothermal reserve while balancing them with plenty of humour. His jokes kept the whole group entertained and laughing from start to finish! If you're visiting Rotorua, I can't recommend Hell’s Gate highly enough - and if you're lucky enough to have AJ as your guide, you're in for an unforgettable experience. Thank you, AJ (and the staff member at the carving station too) for making our visit so informative, entertaining, and culturally enriching.”
Ariela Aerial
“We registered for the 10am session and joined the 1030am guided tour. It was great as we walked the guide explained to us what we see on the walk. I preferred that rather than walking on our own along the path which we could. With the guided tour we did not miss a spot. Then the Maori carving activity. The master carver was interactive, taught us how to manage the tools and we chose the pre-design and did our carving and we could bring back our piece. Fun activity. Then we went for the mud bath and pools. The mud bath was 20mins after we checked in, which was a good first time experience. And the pools. You can stay inside for as long as you want to. It was an awesome experience overall. Suggest to plan for ample time in your day so you can take your time for the walk and enjoy the pools at your own time.”
Srinivas Gopal
“I visited the Hells Gate guided tour and spa and sulphur bath today. If you are visiting Rotorua, please don't miss the Hells Gate geothermal tour. The young fella who guided our walk was knowledgeable and even sang a Maouri song for us honouring one of the hot pools. You can find hot water falls, the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. After the tour, we did Maouri wood carving that was nice to learn a little about their culture and meaning of their carving symbols. After that we did mud spa and sulphur bath. The spa was a unique experience and refreshing. I rate a visit to Hells Gate very highly and recommend everyone who visits NZ.”
Kenny Wilson
“There is something magical about being able to walk through and witness what has been happening for 1000's of years before us. Seeing, hearing and my goodness SMELLING it all just adds to an incredible and unforgettable experience. We even joined a small carving experience at the end to take home which was a beautiful little addition to the experience. The staff were all incredibly friendly and welcoming and the park was very clean and well presented.”
Reviews from Google
Overview
Hell's Gate at Tikitere, fifteen minutes from town, is Rotorua's most violently active reserve and the one where families can get in the mud, not just look at it. A guided walk of about an hour passes steaming lakes, erupting mud volcanoes and a hot waterfall while the guide tells the Māori history of the land, and a short carving session sends everyone home with a piece they made. The Wai Ora spa then offers a mud bath, sulphur pools and a cold plunge, with changing rooms on site.
