Welcome to Hell

Waikato, New Zealand:
Hell’s Gate Mud Spa and Thermal Park

The next time that someone tells me to go to hell, I will happily oblige. If you’ve ever dreamed of bathing in a bubbling mud pool like some kind of ancient warrior—or maybe just a spa lover who enjoys a good soak—Hell’s Gate in Rotorua is your kind of place. This geothermal experience isn’t just a spa; it’s a full sensory experience where the Earth literally steams beneath your feet.
- Cris

Hell’s Gate Mud Spa and Thermal Park

First, Hell’s Gate isn’t just any hot spring—it’s the most active geothermal park in New Zealand. You’ll walk through a prehistoric landscape of erupting mud pools, steaming fumaroles (vents in the Earth’s surface from which volcanic gases and steam escape), and a hot waterfall once used by Māori warriors to heal their battle wounds. The sulfur-rich air gives the place an otherworldly atmosphere, and while it might not smell like a rose garden, that’s just the price of soaking in nature’s most powerful mineral therapy. It’s stinks but you’ll love it.

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What to do?

• Slather yourself in mud: The star attraction is the mud spa, where you can coat yourself in warm, mineral-rich mud that detoxifies your skin and leaves you feeling silky smooth.

• Soak in the sulfur pools: After the mud, rinse off and ease into the sulfur spa pools, naturally heated to the perfect relaxation temperature.

• Explore the thermal walks: If you want to feel like you’ve stepped onto another planet, take the walking trails through steaming landscapes and boiling lakes.

Hell’s Gate is pure New Zealand—wild, untamed, and ridiculously relaxing. Whether you’re in it for the skin benefits, the thrill of soaking in a steaming mud pool, or just to say you bathed in an active geothermal park, this is one stop you don’t want to miss. After all, how often do you get to take a spa day inside a volcano?

See what it looks like

Where To Sleep (reviews and photos)

If you want to stay someplace larger than a Hobbit hole (see last week’s newsletter), then we recommend a private apartment in Auckland. The whole family can relax, make dinner, and hang out without stepping on each other or battling about what to eat. If you really need some quiet time, I imagine it’s a great place to go away for a week or so.

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I’ll be soaking in mud, pretending that I own Hell, until next week.

See you next Wednesday.

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