Which crater lake on North Island is New Zealand's largest lake?

Lake Taupō is the largest crater lake on New Zealand’s North Island.

It occupies the caldera of Taupō Volcano, formed mainly during the enormous Oruanui eruption about 25,600 years ago. The eruption expelled roughly 1,170 cubic kilometres of material and caused the ground to collapse; the depression later filled with water.

Taupō covers about 616 square kilometres and reaches a maximum depth of 186 metres. It drains into the Waikato River, New Zealand’s longest river, while the Tongariro, Waitahanui and Tauranga-Taupō rivers are major inflows. The lake is also an important trout fishery, though brown and rainbow trout were introduced rather than native.

A common mix-up is confusing “largest” with “deepest” or with the largest lake by volume. The answer remains Taupō because the standard national ranking is by surface area. Its Māori name, Taupōmoana, is associated with the phrase “great cloak of Tia.”