Hell's Gate Geothermal Reserve and Mud Spa is at 351 State Highway 30 in Tikitere, near Rotorua. The site calls it New Zealand's most active geothermal reserve. Visitors take a guided or self-guided walk past erupting waters, an active mud volcano, land coral and a hot waterfall. A carving house lets people aged 12 and over learn whakairo and make their own souvenir. The mud spa uses geothermal mud and sulphur mineral water, and the reserve says local Māori have used these waters for over 800 years.
The mud spa is a set treatment: mud is applied, then the visitor soaks in the sulphur spa. A package combines the walk, the carving and the mud spa. We hear the reserve has extended its hours into summer, open until 9pm every day, with last entries at 5.30pm for the walk and experience and 7.30pm for the mud bath and spa. School holidays bring family days out, and the reserve says there is something for all ages. It suits visitors to Rotorua who want something different from a standard spa, and anyone who enjoys a walk through a geothermal landscape before a soak.