New Zealand may be just a wee place, but it sits proudly at the top of many bucket lists around the world. People flock with wide eyes, hiking boots and cameras, eager to relish in it all, but this hasn’t always been the case. Like most countries with a history of colonisation, plenty of the first European arrivers to Aotearoa saw dollar signs in the ancient forests and large expanses of land. Wilderness areas were cleared, trees were felled and, if it kept up at that rate, we wouldn’t have anything left to enjoy now.
Luckily, there were also some great humans around at that time, both Maori and European, who knew it was important to preserve and protect some of the precious wilderness areas of New Zealand. So, in 1887 ,the chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa in the North Island signed an agreement with the government, sealing what would become, in 1894, Tongariro National Park. This was the first of many national parks in New Zealand, protecting volcanoes Ruapehu, Ngāuruhoe and Tongariro. These days, there are 13 national parks in New Zealand, covering over 3 million hectares of natural wonders to be explored, conserved and cherished.
The parks are managed by the Department of Conservation, and for many, in collaboration with local Iwi. New Zealand’s national parks are a national treasure; they’re diverse and can be discovered by foot, water or air, and by locals and visitors alike.
Abel Tasman National Park
Abel Tasman National Park lies at the top of the South Island of New Zealand, on the northern part of the Pikikiruna Range, between Tasman Bay and Golden Bay. It’s the smallest national park in New Zealand, but it’s mind boggling all the same, and offers a hefty dose of both adventure and serenity. Wrapping around the coast and up into the hills, this park is known for its golden sand beaches, striking granite rock formations and inland beech forest.
How big is Abel Tasman National Park?
The national park is over 23,000 hectares, which means you’ve got plenty of exploring to do.
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So how can you explore Abel Tasman?
You’ll want to leave plenty of time for this one – it can be explored by foot or by sea, or both. The Abel Tasman coast track is one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, and an easy three to five day hike. The walk follows the coast, and there are well maintained Department of Conservation huts along the way. Prefer a view from behind a paddle? You can kayak the Abel Tasman, too, getting up close and personal with seals, penguins and dolphins – if you’re lucky.
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park
The mighty Aoraki is the highest mountain in New Zealand, king of the Southern Alps, and a magnificent presence to behold. As well as this grand peak, which is revered by the Ngāi Tahu tribe as an ancestor, Aoraki Mt Cook National Park encompasses 19 mountains of the great Southern Alps. It covers 72,000 hectares of raw alpine beauty.
How many days do you need in Mt Cook?
When it comes to exploring Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, there’s a bounty of options from skiing, and mountain biking to hiking tracks and scenic flights. Come in summer and explore by foot, or get dropped in by helicopter in the winter months and ski the powder of the wondrous Tasman Glacier.
Cook captures the hearts of many, but it’s most popular with mountaineers, who come from all over the world to attempt the mighty mountain.
Can you climb Mount Cook without a guide?
At 3,720 metres, Cook is a long, demanding and challenging peak and should only be attempted by experienced mountaineers. Even proficient climbers go up with guide, with the only real exception being the guides themselves. So the short answer, unless you’re an Edmund Hillary-spec climber, get in touch with a guide.
Arthur’s Pass National Park
Arthur’s Pass National Park runs across the top of the main divide of the Southern Alps, and was set up to preserve the unique mountain landscape that connects Northern Canterbury with the West Coast
Arthur’s Pass is home to a historic highway and railroad, too, born in the flurry of the West Coast gold rush of the 1860’s, when they needed a route from Canterbury to the thriving gold town of Hokitika.
Aside from the man-made, Arthur’s Pass is home to remarkably diverse flora and fauna. Kea, New Zealand’s native alpine parrot (and the world’s coolest bird) live here, and are often found hanging outside cafe’s and carparks at the high point of the road. These incredible creatures have the intelligence of a four year old, and are endlessly curious. Mountain beech covers the eastern side of the park, while rainforest and rātā abound on the west. Above the snowline, it’s snow tussock as far as the eye can see.
Aside from travelling east to west (or the other way around) there’s plenty of non-driving fun to be had in Arthur’s Pass National Park, with the landscape perfect for hiking, mountaineering, ski touring and mountain biking.
Egmont National Park
Egmont National Park, on the west of the North Island, is another of New Zealand’s national parks set up to protect a sacred volcano – Mt Taranaki (or Mt Egmont). It’s one of the country’s smaller national parks at 34,000 hectares, but packs a punch. The bush is ancient and magical, with native forest covering its lower slopes, and giving way further up to subalpine shrub and herb forests.
Like most New Zealand national parks, hiking is popular in Egmont. There’s a track around Mt Taranaki which takes about 5 days, and hiking to the summit is possible, too, but best in summer.
There’s even a small club ski field on Taranaki, for those who’re looking to hit some powder, New Zealand style.
Fiordland National Park
Ah, Fiordland. It’s home to the ancient native rainforest that New Zealand is so famed for, and a step back in time into a place where mystery and awe abound. Found in the south-west of the South Island, Fiordland National Park is the largest of the New Zealand national parks with over a million hectares of jurassic wilderness. With sheer cliffs, soaring waterfalls and fiords that reflect the surrounding mountains, Fiordland National Park is a place with plenty of soul. As well as being the largest national park, its moist microclimate has created a habitat for countless critters and birds to thrive.
Fiordland National Park is home to one of New Zealand’s great treasures, Milford Sound, as well as Lake Te Anau, Lake Manapouri and countless other mystical inlets like Dusky and Doubtful Sound. The ‘worlds finest walk’, the 3 to 5 day Milford Sound Great Walk traverses New Zealand’s largest national park. The park is also home to the Routeburn and the Kepler (both Great Walks). Plan for a day, stay for a week; if it’s the raw heart of the wild you seek, Fiordland National Park is the place to come.
Kahurangi National Park
Found in the north-west of the South Island, the Kahurangi National Park is the second largest national park in New Zealand and home to the most endemic plant species of all the national parks. With its diverse climate, over half of all the native New Zealand species found across the country can be found here. It’s also home to the great spotted kiwi and smallest giant weta in New Zealand (yep, it’s a thing).
The park has wild and wonderful rivers threaded throughout, which are popular with kayakers and trout fishers alike. Of course, as a New Zealand national park, it wouldn’t be complete without hiking tracks, and indeed the tropical, nikau palm-lined Heaphy Track is an absolute pearler. It’s a New Zealand Great Walk (a 3 to 4 day hike), and covers 82 kms, winding inland from the coast into limestone cliffs and caves.
Where is Mt Aspiring?
Mount Aspiring National Park covers the lower peaks of the Southern Alps, and is named for its prominent peak, the iconic Mt Aspiring. New Zealand’s national parks are all great, but this one has extra magic. Bordered by the Haast River to the west and the Humboldt mountains to the south, this park is a blend of glorious alpine and deep bush wilderness areas.
Mt Aspiring National Park is easily accessible from Queenstown, Wanaka, Glenorchy and Te Anau, and is crossed by plenty of walking tracks, including the Routeburn. Mountaineering is, of course, a big thing here, and for the speed junkies, jetboating is also an option.
Nelson Lakes National Park
Nelson Lakes National Park is found between Nelson and Marlborough, and is the perfect place to get lost in paradise. It starts just below St Arnaud village, and is home to a 72km long stretch of mountains. These mountains are dotted with glacial-carved lakes that are popular for boating and fishing, with one of the largest being Lake Rotoiti, followed by Lake Rotorua.
Like all New Zealand national parks, it’s ripe with wilderness areas for camping, hiking and just all-round getting close to nature. The bush is mainly beech forest, and native birds like the kākā and the rare rifleman, the smallest bird in New Zealand, call this national park home.
Paparoa National Park
Welcome to the land of limestone cliffs, towering canyons, pancake rocks and river-threaded forest. The Paparoa National park is another of the South Island’s epic national parks, found on the northern West Coast.
The national park is best known for the Pancake Rocks near Punakaiki, which are a fabulous display of Mother Nature’s boundless creativity and offer a sight to behold when the sea crashes through the three blowholes at high tide.
Rakiura National Park
Rakiura, covering 85% of Stewart Island, is one of the more remote national parks in New Zealand, accessible only by flight or 3 hour ferry across Foveaux Strait. It’s also the most recent of Aotearoa’s national parks, officially protected in 2002. Stewart Island is a wild place and the air is thick with the sound of native birdsong. In fact, you get the idea these winged creatures run the place, and Rakiura is one of the best places in New Zealand to see the national bird, the elusive kiwi.
The forest varies from mountainous podocarp in the north to wetlands, grasslands and low forest in the south. Then, of course, there are the cliffs, beaches and dunes. Rakiura has over 230km of hiking trails, so you’re set whether you’re after a cruisy day hike, the 3 day Rakiura track or the full monty ten day Rakiura loop. Be warned, it’s a muddy spot year round. Bring a change of socks or three.
Tongariro National Park
Tongariro National Park, the first of the country’s national parks, is worth writing home about – even if you live in New Zealand. It was set up to protect three volcanoes in the middle of the North Island, which are of great spiritual importance to Maori. And, of course, they make great ski fields.
It’s the most visited national park in New Zealand, and in the early 1990’s, the Tongariro National Park was made a World Heritage Area. The volcanoes are still active (Ruapehu exploded most recently in 1996), which if you’re hiking around will become pretty obvious by the sulphurey smell. It’s all part of it.
There are hiking trails galore across the park, from easy day walks to the popular eight hour Tongariro crossing. If you’re after a big mission, give the Round the Mountain track a bash – it’s a four to six day hike circumnavigating Mt Ruapehu. The Tongariro Northern Circuit, which passes over Mt Tongariro and around Mt Ngāuruhoe, is another of the Great Walks of New Zealand.
There are two awesome ski fields on Ruapehu, Tūroa and Whakapapa, which make for perfect winter North Island playgrounds. And, if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, Tongariro is home to Mount Doom, Mordor and Emyn Muil.
What is there to do in Taupo in the winter?
Speaking of snow play, this is the spot for it. Well, in the North Island, at least. Taupo is about 90 minutes away from the ski fields, and if the drive’s too much after a day on the slopes, there are plenty of places to stay at or around the resorts. Powder not your thing? Winter in Taupo is still magical. Soak in geothermal hot pools or get the adrenaline pounding with the assortment of adventure activities on offer – think skydiving, bungy and jetboating. Plus, Lake Taupo is the largest lake in the country and is gorgeous to simply take in with a glass of wine and the crisp winter air.
Westland Tai Poutini National Park
The West Coast of the South Island is a whole world unto itself, and Westland Tai Poutini National Park captures it in 131,000 hectares of beach, bush and soaring peaks. Isolated and rugged, this is the kind of place to hide entirely from the world. This is another world heritage site, and is known best for its two glaciers, Franz Josef and Fox Glacier, which, while retreating , are still magnificent. You can hike up to these rivers of ice, or, better yet, get a chopper for bird’s eye view.
It’s a national park, so yes, there are hiking trails for Africa. The Copland Track, in particular, is unbeatable. It winds through fairy-like forest along the Copland river, crossing swing bridges along the way and ending at Welcome Flat hut, where you can soak in natural hot springs under jagged peaks and a sky that feels close enough to touch. The Copland Track actually runs all the way to Aoraki, but that’s for experienced mountaineers only.
For a picture-perfect reflected view of Aoraki, head to Lake Matheson, close to Franz Josef and Fox.
Whanganui National Park
Between Taumaranui and Whanganui lies the Whanganui National Park, divided by the mighty Whanganui river. The river has rich history and significance in Maori culture, and the riverbanks have been eroded to form dramatic cliffs and bluffs. The 145-kilometre canoe trip from Taumarunui to Pipiriki is not to be missed – it’s classified as a New Zealand Great Journey (the paddle version of the Great Walk).
New Zealand national parks are the reason there is so much of this gorgeous country preserved for exploration. In all their ancient, virgin glory, they take up 10% of the New Zealand map, and are the best chance to dive into the wild. All hail the National Park! We’ll see you out there.
