Kahurangi National Park

KAHURANGI NATIONAL PARK ACTIVITIES AND TRAVEL | Kahurangi National Park Information

Kahurangi National Park is one of the newest and the second largest national parks in New Zealand. It is located in the northwest corner of New Zealand's South Island. Nearby towns include: Motueka, Takaka, Karamea, Tapawera and Murchison.

Kahurangi National Park in some places is an untracked wilderness, elsewhere it is a great network of tracks leading you to rivers, high plateaux and alpine herb fields, and coastal forests.

The Heaphy Track is the park's most well known attraction. The track covers 78 kilometres of subtropical rainforest, tussock high country, river valley and coast.

Within the boundaries of Kahurangi National Park there are some of the oldest rocks, strangest plants and rarest birds in New Zealand. The intricate landforms of Kahurangi National Park attract fossil hunters, cavers and anyone with a fascination for geology.

There are 18 species of native birds living in the park and also several species of native land snails. If you go caving, keep an eye out for the Kahurangi Cave Spider, one of the world's rarest, which has a leg span of up to 12 centimetres.

Kahurangi National Park History

Kahurangi National Park was created in 1996. Translated, its name has a number of meanings including 'treasured possession', an appropriate description of its wonderfully diverse natural and recreational values.

Main Towns in the Nelson Region

Other Towns in the Nelson Region