State Highway 49 (SH 49) is a New Zealand

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

, linking and , via the tourist town of

Ohakune Ohakune is a small town at the southern end of Tongariro National Park, close to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu, in the North Island of New Zealand. A rural service town known as New Zealand's Carrot Capital, Ohak ...

. It forms the southern part of the ring road surrounding

Tongariro National Park Tongariro National Park (; ) is the oldest national park in New Zealand,Department of Conservation"Tongariro National Park: Features", retrieved 21 April 2013 located in the central North Island. It has been acknowledged by UNESCO as a World H ...

and provides access to the southern side of

Mount Ruapehu Mount Ruapehu (; ) is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and North Island volcanic plateau in New Zealand. It is northeast of Ohakune and southwest of the southern shore of Lake Taupō, within the Tongari ...

and the Turoa skifield. It roughly follows the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

railway. SH 49, along with SH 4, , and , is used as an alternative route to SH 1 and the

Desert Road Te Onetapu, commonly known as the Rangipo Desert, is a barren desert-like environment in New Zealand, located in the Ruapehu District on the North Island Volcanic Plateau; to the east of the three active peaks of Mount Tongariro, Mount Ngauruhoe ...

, and is well used when the Desert Road is closed due to snow. SH 49 lies entirely within the

Ruapehu District Ruapehu District is a territorial authority in the centre of New Zealand's North Island. It has an area of 6,734 square kilometers and the district's population in was . Features The district is landlocked, and contains the western half of the ...

Route

SH 49 leaves SH 4 at Tohunga Junction, some eight kilometres north of

Raetihi Raetihi, a small town in the center of New Zealand's North Island, is located at the junction of State Highways 4 and 49 in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It lies in a valley between Tongariro and Whanganui National Parks, 11 kilometres west ...

, and heads southeast across rolling hills to the tourist town of Ohakune. Following Ohakune's main street, the road continues southeast out of the township, passing Ohakune's famous giant carrot. SH 49 continues southeast across rolling hills, running broadly in the same direction as the North Island Main Trunk. It passes the rural villages of

Rangataua Rangataua is a small village in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of both the Tongariro National Park and Rangataua State Forest, adjacent to the southwestern slopes of the active volcano Mount Ruapehu. Part of t ...

and

Karioi Karioi or Mount Karioi is a 2.4 million year old extinct stratovolcano SW of Raglan in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It was the earliest of the line of 6 calcalkalic volcanoes, the largest of which is Mount Pirongia (the oth ...

, before meeting the railway line at the

Whangaehu River The Whangaehu River is a large river in central North Island of New Zealand. Its headwaters are the crater lake of Mount Ruapehu on the central plateau, and it flows into the Tasman Sea eight kilometres southeast of Whanganui. Water is diverted ...

Tangiwai Tangiwai is a census area and a small rural community in the Ruapehu District of the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located east of Ohakune and Rangataua and west of Waiouru on State Highway 49. In 2018 37.5% of ...

. The bridge here has flashing lights and gates to block off the road in case of a

lahar A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley. Lahars are extreme ...

from

crater lake Crater Lake (Klamath language, Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The ...

. To the side of the bridge is the Tangiwai memorial, erected to remember the 151 people who died in the

Tangiwai disaster The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriage ...

when a

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

express train plunged into the river following a lahar on 24 December 1953. After crossing the Whangaehu River, and the railway line, SH 49 turns east for several kilometres, before turning south into

Waiouru Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The town ...

. At Waiouru, SH 49 ends at the intersection with SH 1.

Spur

SH 49 used to have one spur; SH 49A. It deviated from SH 49 at Ohakune, and ran west to

, where it terminated at SH 4. SH 49A was revoked in 1991–92. Some older New Zealand maps instead have SH 49 running on the section between Ohakune and Raetihi, and SH 49A on the section between Ohakune and Tohunga Junction.

Major intersections

The highway lies entirely within the

References

External links

New Zealand Transport Agency
{{New Zealand State Highway navbox 49 Ruapehu District Transport in Manawatū-Whanganui

Route

Spur

Major intersections

See also

References

External links