Kaitake Range

The Kaitake Range, like the neighbouring Pouākai Range, is an eroded and heavily vegetated stratovolcano that formed during the Pleistocene epoch in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. Kaitake is the northwesternmost of the stratovolcanoes in the region. It is about 500,000 years old and last erupted around 350,000 years ago. Its final collapse about 250,000 years ago appears to have been potentially associated with a collapse event of the Pouākai volcano.

The region was often reshaped after each cone collapse from Mount Taranaki. Kaitake and Pouākai continued to be damaged from the erupting Mount Taranaki volcano. Although Kaitake is largely eroded, the volcanic base of the mountain range is still fairly intact and can be seen as a smooth sloping mountain range from New Plymouth. Kaitake represents some of the oldest inland volcanic activity on the Taranaki peninsula, being younger than only the Sugar Loaf Islands.