National Parks Snap Shot

Enjoy a 'snap shot' of New Zealand's National Parks...

(Just so you know, the number next to the name, is the year the area became a national park.)

North Island
1954 Te Urewera – 212,673 hectares

Lake Waikaremoana is within Te Urewera National Park

Te Urewera contains the largest logged area of native forest in the North Island

1887 Tongariro – 79,598 hectares

New Zealand's first national park and the fourth in the world

There are three active volcanoes within the park, Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu

The Tongariro crossing, a very popular walk, is within the park

Two commercial skifields operate on Mount Ruapehu, which is the highest peak in the North Island (2797 metres)

Tongariro National Park is also a World Heritage Area

Mt Ruapehu - Tongariro National Park

1986 Whanganui – 74,231 hectares

The Wanganui River runs through the park, New Zealand's third longest river - after Waikato and Clutha
Yellow-crowned kakariki can be found here
Rainforest clad hills dominate the park
The area is famous for its historic Maori sites

Mt Taranaki - Mt Egmont National Park

1900 Egmont – 33,543 hectares

The park is home to Mount Taranaki, a cone volcano and the second highest peak in the North Island (2518 metres)
There are 320 kilometres of walking tracks
Bats, blue duck and yellow-crowned kakariki can be found here

South Island
	1942 Abel Tasman – 22,541 hectares A very popular national park, especially during summer because of the world famous coastal track. The park's coastline is also popular for kayaking

1996 Kahurangi – 452,000 hectares

Kahurangi contains a significant number of endangered native plants and animals including giant land snails, New Zealand's largest native spider, blue duck and kaka
The park covers a large area, with a variety of landscapes; Farewell Spit sand-dunes, limestone formations, mountains and alpine meadows.

Kahurangi National Park

Nelson Lakes National Park

1956 Nelson Lakes – 101,753 hectares

There are two large lakes within the park, Rotoiti and Rotoroa
Kaka can be found within the park

1987 Paparoa – 30,560 hectares

On the coast of the park, at Punakaiki, you can see the famous Pancake Rocks
The endangered short-tailed bat lives within the park

Punakaiki Rocks Punakaiki Blow-hole

1929 Arthur’s Pass – 114,394 hectares

Arthur's Pass is in the Southern Alps
When travelling from Christchurch to the West Coast you go through Arthur's Pass national park
The area has significant alpine vegetation

Arthur's Pass

1960 Westland – 117,607 hectares

A major conservation victory saw the park extended from the mountains to the sea in 1981, protecting forests threatened by logging
The Okarito brown kiwi lives in the park
Franz Josef and Fox glaciers, within Westland National Park, are popular tourist destinations

1953 Mt Cook (Aorangi) – 70,728 hectares

Mt Cook National Park is home to New Zealand's highest mountain, Mt Cook (3764 metres)
It also contains New Zealand's longest glacier, Tasman

Mount Aspiring

1964 Mt Aspiring – 355,543 hectares

Mt Aspiring National Park contains some of New Zealand's most well-known walking tracks, Routeburn, Rees/Dart and Greenstone/Caples.

1952 Fiordland – 1,257,000 hectares

Fiordland is New Zealand's largest national park
It is the last refuge for takahe on the mainland
The area includes snow-capped mountains, forests and fiords
There are very remote areas within the park that are seldom visited by people

Fiordland National Park

2001 Rakiura (Stewart Island) – 163,000 hectares

New Zealands only island national park
The national park is approximatley 85% of Stewart Island

Enjoy New Zealand's National Parks!