Kuirau Park
Boiling mud pools and hot foot baths, in the middle of town, for free.
Duration
45 min – 1 hr 30 min
Best time
Early morning, for the steam
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Kuirau is an ordinary municipal park, except that it sits on an active geothermal field: mud pools bubble in the middle of the lawns, steam comes out of the ground, and hot foot baths are set along the paths.
Everything is free and always open, which makes it the best value in Rotorua. The park had a hydrothermal eruption in 2001 that threw mud ten metres up into the trees — the ground here moves, and new pools appear regularly.
Getting there
On the western edge of central Rotorua, ten minutes on foot. Free access at all hours.
What to bring
- Swimsuit
Rules on site
The fences surround pools at a hundred degrees: do not cross them under any circumstances — the ground around can give way. The foot baths are scalding: test before putting a foot in.