Several sports fields occupy the floor of the crater and the rim opposite the museum hosts the cricket pavilion and Auckland City Hospital.

The Domain Wintergardens, containing two large glass houses, lies on the north side of the central scoria cone called Pukekaroa Hill.

[6][4][7] In 2014, the geographic hill between Parnell and Grafton, locally known as "The Domain", was officially named "Pukekawa" as set out in a Treaty of Waitangi Settlement.

[12] The first Māori King Pōtatau Te Wherowhero interpreted it to mean 'hill of bitter memories', likely referring to various hard-fought tribal battles between the Ngāpuhi and Ngati Whatua iwi.

[13] The central volcanic cone Pukekaroa,[1][2] also known as Pukekaroro ("Black-backed gull Hill"),[14][15] has a tōtara tree, commemorating the battles and the continued peace agreement.

Its tuff ring, created by many explosive eruptions, is made of a mixture of volcanic ash, lapilli and fragmented sandstone country rock.

The western half collapsed slightly and became a freshwater lake, that of which later turned into a swamp and slowly filled up with alluvium and sediment, before being drained by Europeans for use as playing fields and parkland.

[17] Soon after signing the Treaty of Waitangi, Ngāti Whātua Paramount Chief Apihai Te Kawau gifted 3000 acres of land on the Waitematā Harbour for the new capital of Auckland, including Pukekawa.

[23] The flour mill dam was often swum in by the European and Māori inhabitants of Auckland, and an annual "Native Feast" was held to celebrate Queen Victoria's Birthday.

[24] Between May and August 1845, Governor FitzRoy built a European-style cottage for Waikato Tainui rangatira Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, as a way to ensure peace and stability in the Auckland Region, in response to hostilities seen at Russell in the north.

[citation needed] Many exotic specimen trees were donated and planted throughout Auckland Domain by the late Victorians which have now matured into a landscape park.

[citation needed] The wooden Cricket Ground Pavilion designed by William Anderson was built in 1898 as a replacement for an earlier structure that burnt down.

Designed by the architectural firm Gummer and Ford, the gates are surmounted by a bronze statue of a nude male athlete by the sculptor Richard Gross.

[citation needed] Auckland Domain is also the location of several other public artworks including Guy Nygan's Millennium Tree and Kaitiaki by Fred Graham.

"Centennial Drive" was surveyed and trees were planted along its length, but it was never formed as a road; it is now a walkway between the duck ponds and Stanley Street.

[1][36] An 18,500 cubic metre (4 million gallon) water reservoir was constructed in 1952, buried in the field at the high point to the immediate south of the museum.

Such use has a long history, from balloon ascents during the Edwardian period, to the 1953 Royal Tour of Elizabeth II, to papal visits, and various sports events.