The track opens onto the flat, yellow expanse of South Crater, crossing it, and climbing onto the low ridge opposite. Over the back of this ridge are good views of the strange and desolate Oturere Valley. Here, windblown ash fills the gaps in the rubble, creating a moonscape of smooth arcs and jagged edges.

Climbing easily along the ridge, the track bursts unexpectedly upon Red Crater, a disturbingly primordial rift of dark red and charcoal grey. A striking feature of the opposite wall is the hollow shell of a dike. Molten magma once pushed through these ash layers along a vertical crack in the wall. When the magma drained away, only the hardened surface remained. Steam rises from the sides of this active crater and sulphur lingers in the air.

The track drops down a scree slope to the pretty Emerald Lakes, old explosion craters flooded and coloured with minerals leached from the surrounding rock. Sulphur stains and steaming fumaroles are visible here.