Makatote River

The Makatote River is a river of the centre of New Zealand's North Island.[1] It flows west from the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, and from the Hauhungatahi Wilderness Area,[2] before entering rough hill country, veering southwest and entering a gorge cut almost 100 m (330 ft) into the volcanic rocks.[2] It joins with the waters of several smaller streams to become the Manganui o te Ao River, part of the Whanganui River system.[3]

Makatote River
Native name	Makatote (Māori)
Location
Country	New Zealand
Region	Manawatū-Whanganui
District	Ruapehu
Physical characteristics
Source	Mount Ruapehu
• coordinates	39°16′14″S 175°32′18″E
• elevation	2,050 metres (6,730 ft)
Mouth	Manganui o te Ao River
• coordinates	39°16′23″S 175°21′4″E
• elevation	595 metres (1,952 ft)
Length	30 kilometres (19 mi)
Basin features
Progression	Makatote River → Manganui o te Ao River → Whanganui River
River system	Whanganui River
Bridges	Makatote Viaduct

The river is part of a water conservation order catchment to protect indigenous fish including lamprey, longfinned eel, short-finned eel, common smelt, banded kokopu, short-jawed kokopu, koaro, torrentfish, redfinned bully, common bully, and Cran's bully.[2] Trees in the gorge include rimu, matai and maire.[4] The main trees logged were rimu, matai, kahikatea, totara and miro.[5] The lowest 3 km (1.9 mi) of the river is monitored for its whio population.[6] A proposal to create a track to Te Kohatu waterfall was rejected as being inappropriate for a wilderness area.[7]

The river is spanned by the third largest railway viaduct in the country,[8] which is 79 m (259 ft) high.[9] SH4 (originally built by the railway for access to its construction sites)[4] crosses on a much lower bridge near the viaduct.[10]

Just to the north of the viaduct, the Makatote Tramway has a Category 2 listing by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, with remnants of rails, skid sites, a log hauler, water pits and bogie wheels. In the 1930s Western Red Cedar and Lawson's Cypress were planted near the tramway by the State Forests Service as part of a wider experimental high-altitude planting programme.[5] Japanese Cedar, Douglas Fir, Ponderous Pine, Weymouth Pine and Sugar Pine were also considered for the experiment.[11]