Hunterville is a small community on State Highway 1, in the Rangitikei district of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located half way between Taupo and Wellington and has a population (2013 census) of 429. The township was founded in 1884 by a merchant named George Hunter. It straddles the state highway as well as the main trunk railway in the foothills forming the gateway to the Central Plateau. Kiwiburn, the New Zealand Burning Man regional burn, has been held here since 2014. The Hunterville railway station on the North Island Main Trunk line opened in 1887 and closed in 1988.