In Māori pūrākau (legend), Kakepuku travelled north in search of his father, until he reached the Waipa plain and fell in love with Te Kawa, daughter of Pirongia and Taupiri Mountains.

The mountains fought, Karewa lost and, pursued by Kakepuku's rocks, fled into the Tasman Sea, now also known as Kārewa / Gannet Island.

DOC says, "Tainui settlement in the Kakepuku area began about 1550AD, although there were probably earlier people's present – notably Ngati Kahupungapunga (see history of Tokoroa)."

Most of the volcano is composed of ankaramite basalt, a rare type of lava with megacrysts of clinopyroxene that is also found on Karioi, Mount Pirongia and Te Kawa.

[11] Aeromagnetic survey data indicates that numerous other small volcanoes lie buried beneath river sediment to the west and southwest of Kakepuku.

30 North Island robins were reintroduced in 1999 and later the New Zealand falcon, weedy portions on the fringe of the mountain were replanted with native plants and tūī and kererū are also present.