[5] The Main Trunk Line passes through Ōwhango on the western side of State Highway 4, with two crossing points for vehicles, one controlled (Owhango Road, centrally located) and the other uncontrolled (Onematua Road, on the northern boundary).

A road through the reserve, signposted from the State Highway, leads down to the view from the old logging bridge over the Whakapapa River.

Along the river are memorable picnic spots with superb swimming pools containing rainbow and brown trout.

[9] Beyond the bridge is the vast expanse of Tongariro Forest Conservation Area, once the source of timber for local mills, but now protected as conservation land thanks to a successful campaign in the 1980s led by local people to save the forest from clearance.

Many of the mill houses are now holiday homes owned by city dwellers keen on the skiing, fishing, hunting, canoeing and tramping opportunities that abound in the surrounding area.

The village had a permanent population of 177 (2013 census data[11]) and has a primary school, garage (no fuel sold there, however), hotel, accommodation lodges, cottages for hire and bed and breakfast/homestay places and a café and public hall where the monthly market is held.

[5] There is a historical swimming pool actually constructed into the bed of the Kakahi Stream, located about 500 metres (1,600 ft) west down Onematua Road from State Highway 4 at the northern boundary of Ōwhango.

[12] In more recent times it has mainly been used for community meetings and events, indoors bowls, and market days.

Historically, especially in the 1950s, the Ōwhango Domain played host to a sub-regional annual sports day.

[19] The earliest schooling in Ōwhango was in canvas tents, starting from about 1904 and coinciding with the construction of the railway line through the area.

[20][5] The Taumaranui Mobile Library visits the school regularly, to provide access to children living remotely.