UPDATED 1.23pm: A 14-year-old missing on Mount Taranaki has been found safe and well.

About a dozen search and rescue members, a police dog and a police helicopter were involved in the search after Phillip Pierson went missing while on a supervised navigation exercise on Mt Taranaki.

LISTEN: DOC worker finds missing 14-year-old

Trainee DOC worker Emma Neal says she spotted him while checking stoat traps.

She says he told her how he survived the night.

"He said that he walked for as long as he could until it was dark, and then pitched a tent in an open area. So he had all the right ideas and was really really on to it."

He became separated from a group of 10 students on a Taranaki Outdoor Pursuits and Education Centre course around midday yesterday.

Conditions had been near freezing overnight.

Principal of Hawera High School is ecstatic Pierson was found safe and well.

"Delighted for the boy, delighted for his family and delighted for all of our students and families at the school. It's the best result we could've had."

Search and rescue operations soured dense bush throughout the night through what Taranaki LandSAR Group secretary Andrea Jupp said was "heavy going, dense bush".

Area Commander Inspector Keith Borrell says the teenager is wearing suitable clothing and has the right outdoor equipment, but has limited outdoor experience.