The Lord of the Rings trilogy really put Aotearoa New Zealand on the film-making map.
It spawned both a thriving locally-based special effects industry in the form of the Oscar-winning Weta Workshop (in New Zealand’s capital city of Wellington), as a whole new tourism draw: New Zealand Lord of the Rings filming locations.
According to the New Zealand Tourism Guide, 6% of tourists who visit Aotearoa New Zealand say Lord of the Rings is one of the primary reasons they chose to have a New Zealand vacation.
You can take a guided Lord of the Rings tour today – guides will often have stills from the relevant Lord of the Rings scenes with them, so you can compare reality to celluloid, not to mention props, for the ultimate J.R.R Tolkien-themed selfie. Or do a self-guided tour.
Either way, there are ongoing ample options for fans of the trilogy to make their Middle Earth dreams come true.
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How the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand came to be Middle Earth
Places on both the North Island and South Island have become almost synonymous with Middle Earth thanks to being Lord of the Rings filming locations.
For director Sir Peter Jackson, shooting in New Zealand was a non-brainer.
A New Zealander himself, he knew first-hand how the range of stunning scenery, unusual landscapes, and the accessibility of both, would make Aotearoa New Zealand the ideal place to find the perfect filming locations for the different aspects of Middle Earth.
Here are a few of our favourites:
The Hakatere Conservation Park in the Ashburton Lakes District
Walk to Mt Sunday in the Hakatere Conservation Park was the Lord of the Rings filming site for Edoras. About an hour’s drive from Methven, the park itself is pretty cool, with nine lakes, all accessible by foot, most with Department of Conservation-managed campsites.
The walk up Mt Sunday is slightly steep but fairly easy, and the views of the Southern Alps are incredible. The drive in is via a dirt road, but it’s a pretty good one – part of it was built by the New Zealand Army for Peter Jackson to get his Lord of the Rings film crew into the site.
Whakapapa Ski Field, on New Zealand’s North Island
Perched on Mt Ruapehu’s north-western slopes, Whakapapa Ski Field is known for its size (it’s the New Zealand’s largest alpine ski area), the views of Tongariro National Park from the slopes, and its varied terrain (including 30 groomed trails, lift-accessed backcountry, and a dedicated beginner area with its own cafe).
Being set on the side of a volcano, Whakapapa boasts a lot of unusual landforms, including a big fragment of volcano rim that stood in for Meads Wall in Lord of the Rings.
No need to take one of the Lord of the Rings tours to see this one, all you need to do is hop on a chairlift.
Twelve Mile Delta, near Queenstown
Twelve Mile Delta, not far past Bob’s Cove on Lake Wakatipu, by the road from Queenstown to Glenorchy and Aspiring National Park, was used for Ithilien in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
This is one of our top Lord of the Rings filming locations not just because it is easily accessed from Queenstown, New Zealand’s adventure capital , but also because years ago, while biking, we actually stumbled on the Lord of the Rings crew in action at Twelve Mile.
Scouts? Doubt it.
There were signs saying “do not enter, Scout Jamboree in progress” (or something like that). Yeah, right!
Mount Ngauruhoe in Tongariro National Park
Mount Ngauruhoe, with its perfectly-shaped volcanic cone and slightly foreboding steep, dark-coloured flanks, stood in for Mt Doom in Lord of the Rings.
It’s hard not to believe that the Mt Doom Peter Jackson captured on film is just as J.R.R Tolkien might have imagined it – in fact, of all the national parks in New Zealand, Tongariro National Park might be the most Middle Earth-esque.
Hobbiton movie set – the ultimate Lord of the Rings tour
This is the mother of all Lord of the Rings filming locations, the Lord of the Rings tour that puts you right in the middle of the Middle Earth action.
Hobbiton is the movie used for The Shire in both Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit trilogy. It was built among the rolling green hills on a 12-acre section of lush dairy farming landscape in the Waikato – a place ready-made to be a peaceful shire region.
Jackson again recruited the New Zealand Army to help with set-building – here, they dug 39 “Hobbit holes”. After filming on the second trilogy, The Hobbit movies, there were 44 hobbit holes left – these are now the site of the guided Hobbiton Movie Set tours (you can only visit Hobbiton on a guided tour).
A hobbit drinking hole
As well as the Hobbit holes, the Green Dragon Inn has been added to Hobbiton for banqueting and Hobbit-themed drinking experiences.
A few more Lord of the Rings filming locations
Keen for a few more Lord of the Rings locations? It’s actually hard to go anywhere in New Zealand without stumbling on a Lord of the Rings filming location. For example:
The forested parts of Mount Victoria in Wellington were used for the Hobbiton woods.
In Fiordland, the Waiau River between Manapouri and Te Anau was the River Anduin (take a jet boat tour out of Te Anau to hear the full story of the Fellowship’s paddle down the River Anduin and to see it up close yourself).
Also in Fiordland, off the Manapouri Te Anau Highway, the Kepler Mire is the spot where Gollum leads Sam and Frodo through the swamp.
The Waitarere Forest up the west coast of the North Island past Paraparaumu was the Osgiliath Wood, where Frodo, Sam and Gollum headed after Faramir.
In Wellington Airport? Look up to See Lord of the Rings characters in person!
And how cool is this! hanging from the ceiling in Wellington city airport are three giant creatures from Middle Earth: two enormous eagles, one with Gandalf riding on its back, plus a dragon, Smaug the Magnificent.
One of the eagles actually fell down – not on top of anyone thankfully – during a magnitude 6.4 earthquake. It’s been more firmly secured since then.
There also used to be a six-metre high rendition of Gollum’s head, arms and hands hungrily chasing a school of fish, but this one is, sadly, no more.
