An observation flight over Tongariro National Park found no visible signs of fire after rainfall aided efforts to fight the gigantic blaze.
The large fire burned through more than 2800ha since breaking out on Saturday, triggering evacuations of trampers and residents, including Whakapapa Village.
NZTA said SH47 and SH48 between SH4 and State Highway 46 at Waimarino (National Park) were likely to be closed for the next two days.
Incident controller Nigel Dravitzki said the rain had a significant impact on helping suppress the blaze while ground crews worked on the flanks to strengthen containment lines.
"This is very good news. Fire and Emergency’s specialist drone crew will be using thermal imaging to detect where the hotspots are around the perimeter of the fireground, and tomorrow we will be able to position our ground crews to target those areas.
"We are very mindful that another change in the weather could alter the situation and lead to a resurgence of fire activity, so we are planning for all contingencies."
He said earlier today that evacuated residents were allowed to return home, while those who ran businesses from their properties would not be able to have clients or customers on site.
"We understand that places strain on some businesses but we will reassess the situation again tomorrow."
There were 15 helicopters and five planes on standby.
Minister shares 'confronting' scale of the damage as fires scorch 2500ha - watch on TVNZ+
Department of Conservation central North Island regional director Damian Coutts said it was "pretty amazing" that many visitor assets, including Mangatepopo Road end and the Mangatepopo Hut had been spared by the blaze.
"The impact on biodiversity is going to be significant, when we get teams in over coming weeks, we'll be able to understand that more."
The cause of the blaze was still unknown and under investigation by specialist fire investigators.
Rāhui for 'recovery' and 'healing'
Two rāhui have been put in place for the Tongariro area by Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro.
The first rāhui covered the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and would remain in place for a week, "allowing time for the maunga and its pathways to rest and recover", the hapū said in a statement.
"The second rāhui applies to the burnt areas where the fires have damaged the whenua and native vegetation. This rāhui will remain in place for an extended period to enable the natural regrowth and healing of the land."
Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro asked all visitors and the wider community to respect the rāhui and refrain from entering the affected areas.
Speaking to Breakfast earlier today, Fire and Emergency New Zealand district commander Glen Varcoe said "favourable conditions" overnight including some light rain and moisture in the air had helped the battle on the ground.
"So the quick assessment that we've done on the ground and through the air shows the fire front is less active than yesterday, which will enable our crews, both ground and air crews, to actually get some more traction on that of reducing the fire front," he said.
He said conditions faced initially were "extremely challenging".
"So we've got the terrain, the dryness, and just the fuel loading. So that just meant, with a little bit of wind it was really hard to keep on top of it. I guess because we're so isolated here, getting resources here has also caused a little bit of issue and getting air assets into the air, so that time just delays and lets the fire grow exponentially.
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Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Minister of Conservation Tama Potaka were also at the scene, and praised efforts from all emergency crews, including those from the Department of Conservation.
Mitchell said he was "really pleased" to see FENZ make quick decisions to get air assets up, saying the response had been "outstanding".
"And the skill of those pilots, I want to acknowledge them and the outstanding work that they've done, it has meant that they've really been able to contain and not let that southern and northern flank move too far.
"But I don't want to understate just how difficult that job is up there for them, just the sheer scale of that fire," he added.
Potaka said it was "quite confronting to see what's happened" on such a significant piece of conservation land.
"Going up in the helicopter, seeing it from the sky, seeing the scale of the impact and the potential biodiversity impacts on this place of consequence and absolute beauty is very confronting."
"The DOC team have been working in scaffolding and supporting the emergency response with NEMA and FENZ and also engaging with and working with iwi, who have been absolutely exemplary as they are throughout the country in these types of events, standing up, supporting some of the mission around manaakitanga, looking after people, looking after some of the firefighters and others who are here.
"And of course, the very many tourists that have been down here over the last couple of days," he said.
'Huge scale' - Ruapehu District Mayor
Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton told Breakfast the fire was an "emergency situation" and urged tourists to stay away from the park. (Source: Breakfast)
Ruapehu District Mayor Weston Kirton told Breakfast his biggest concern was the sheer scale of the blaze.
"Well, it's this huge scale. I was able to go up in the fixed wing aircraft with the mayor of Taupō John Funnell and we're able to see above all the activity it was just huge.
"It was just a big ring of fire consuming, and as the hours went on it just got worse. [When] it started off, we thought 100 hectares was huge, but now we're talking thousands of hectares, and that's just alarm bells for us in terms of the damage and reconstruction, the destruction that's caused the development of conservation land.”
He said there was no fire ban in place when the fire started, and it wasn’t exactly clear how it began.
"It was near the highway, so we can only speculate that there was some activity that went on down that road on State Highway 47, but it's under investigation, the police are on hand, of course, just to try and help fire crews there just to see what actually did happen."
He urged people to stay away from the park and reschedule their tourism plans.
"It's business as usual for most parts of the Ruapehu course but in the northern part of the Mountain District Park Waimarino it's a no-go zone, of course, for any hiking or cycling or any activity along that road.
"But we're just trying to get people to understand that this is an emergency situation until we get clarity as to when the fire is completely out.”
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