New Zealand: Egmont National Park

Egmont National Park is named after its main feature – Mount Egmont, in turn named by Captain Cook after John Perceval (Earl of Egmont), who was the First Lord of Admiralty back in the heyday of the British Empire. Mount Egmont goes by its Maori name as well – Mount Taranaki. It is a perfectly conical dormant volcano that totally dominates the landscape. As you hike up the mountain – you get the towering snow-covered volcano in front of you and a panorama of coastal plain in the other direction as far as the eye can see toward the ocean.