National Parks Snap Shot

National Parks  Map  Resources

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.)

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

• 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

• 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

• A very popular national park, especially during summer because of the world famous coastal track.
• The park's coastline is also popular for kayaking

• 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.

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

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

• 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

• 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

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

• 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

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

Enjoy New Zealand's National Parks!