Experience – Rano Raraku – Easter Island, Chile.

• Location: Rano Raraku, Easter Island, Valparaíso, Chile (Google Maps)
• Hours: 8:30 am – 5:30 pm
• Recommended Time: 2 hours
• How to Arrive: By car
• Distance from Hanga Roa: 20.1 km / 12.4 miles
• Ideal Month(s): All Year

Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated volcanic ash and located on the lower slopes of Terevaka in the Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island in Chile. It was a quarry for ~500 years until the early eighteenth century, and supplied the stone from which about 95% of the island’s known monolithic sculptures (Moai) were carved. Rano Raraku is a visual record of moai design vocabulary and technological innovation, where 887 moai remain. Rano Raraku is in the World Heritage Site of Rapa Nui National Park and gives its name to one of the seven sections of the park.

The outer slopes of Rano Raraku have many moai, some half-buried, some left still “under construction” near the side of the mountain, which are high and steep except on the north and northwest, where they are much lower and gently sloping. The interior contains one of the island’s three freshwater crater lakes.