It sits at the foot of 952 metres (3,123 ft) Mount Te Aroha, the highest point in the Kaimai Range.

The name of the mountain is shortened from Te Aroha-a-uta (love flowing inland).

[10] The construction of a railway line led to Te Aroha becoming a popular tourist destination by the late 1890s.

[6]: 200  Te Aroha was compared to famous European spas and hotels popped up to service travellers.

[11] On 17 February 1985 Te Aroha experienced a severe flash flood that washed boulders, mud, and trees through the town.

[20] The Thames Branch reached Te Aroha in 1885 and the station opened on 1 March 1886,[22] when it had a partly built 4th class station (completed in June 1886 by W Cameron for about £2,750, with some buildings probably also moved from Eureka to Te Aroha), platform, cart approach, 40 ft (12 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed (extended in 1942), loading bank, engine shed, stationmaster's house, urinals and a passing loop for 48 wagons.

"[7] The area west of the Waihou was named Herriesville from 1914,[23][24] when a private railway siding[25] was opened on 24 January 1914 to serve the A&P ground.

[29] Both stations closed to passengers on 11 September 1967 and to freight on 11 July 1986, though Herriesville was only open for racecourse traffic.

[30] The eponymous Mt Te Aroha is the highest peak of the Kaimais at at 953 m (3,127 ft) and dominates the landscape.

The hot spring water emerges from the source at a range of 75 °C /167 °F to 85 °C / 185 °F, and is cooled before reaching the soaking pools.

[40] The geyser complex, the most intact Edwardian spa in New Zealand, is located in the Te Aroha Domain.

The hotel was one of several in Te Aroha that serviced travellers coming for the hot springs.

Today the domain still retains many of the original Edwardian buildings and serves as an attraction for tourists.

[56] In 2020 a report was produced on the moths of Mount Te Aroha outlining important species that inhabit the area.

[60] Te Aroha was the setting of the 2023 crime drama The Gone (renamed Mt Affinity in the show).