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 Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

, 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, Ohaku ...

. It forms the southern part of the ring road surrounding

Tongariro National Park Tongariro National Park (; ), located in the central North Island, is the oldest national park in New Zealand and the sixth national park established in the world.Department of Conservation"Tongariro National Park: Features", retrieved 21 April ...

and provides access to the southern side of

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

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 located 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, ...

, 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 authorities of New Zealand, 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 landloc ...

Route

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

Raetihi Raetihi, a small town in the centre of New Zealand's North Island, is located at the junction of New Zealand state highway network, State Highways 4 and 49 in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It lies in a valley between Tongariro National Park, ...

, 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 and Karioi, 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. Due to the high ...

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

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

from

crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ) 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 a tourist attraction for its deep blue color and water clarity. T ...

. 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 was a deadly railway accident that 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 loco ...

when a

Wellington Wellington 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 third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

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 tow ...

. 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