Mount Ngauruhoe movie fame volcano sunset, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand

Mount of movie fame

The fictional, fuming Mount Doom was portrayed by two different New Zealand peaks in the 'Lord of the Rings' movies, and here we see one of them: a sun-soaked Mount Ngauruhoe. With roughly 70 eruptions since recordkeeping began, Ngauruhoe is the most active of at least a dozen cones making up the stratovolcano complex called Tongariro. The last of its blasts happened back in 1977, making this the longest recorded period of dormancy in its 2,500-year existence—but its fellow Mount Doom stand-in, nearby Mount Ruapehu, has remained active well into the 21st century.