The Best National Parks In New Zealand | South Island
From alps and fiords to rainforest and beaches, this guide to the National Parks of New Zealand’s South Island Has Everything You Need To Know To Plan The Perfect Vacation in New Zealand.
The south island of New Zealand is one of the most awe inspiring places on Earth, with landscapes that inspire cinematographers and mere mortals could barely dream up. One thing that makes the south island so idyllic for nature lovers is the vast expanse of wilderness, which we owe to the abundant National Parks of New Zealand. These conservation areas protect what makes the Island so special, from the alpine meadows, to the deep ocean fiords and the lush rain forests beyond.
Luckily, we value wild places in New Zealand, so you don’t have to go far to find a National Park. The South Island is home to ten New Zealand National Parks, ranging from coastal forests to rocky mountains. The National Parks in New Zealand occupy over 30,000 square kilometers, spanning over ten percent of the country’s land area.
National parks in New Zealand are a significant driver of the economy, indirectly supporting over 225,000 jobs in tourism. The 13 New Zealand National Parks are a significant draw for people visiting New Zealand on vacation, and make up a special feature on most guided tours in new Zealand.
Read on to find out more about the national parks, and find out which ones would be best for you on your trip to New Zealand. Some are great for hikers, and some are great for sightseeing- which do you prefer!?
National Parks of New Zealand’s South Island
Abel Tasman National Park
Lush Forests, Golden Beaches and Emerald Waters Collide For The Ultimate Beach Hopping Venue In New Zealand.
Abel Tasman is New Zealand’s smallest national park—but don’t let its size fool you. Located at the top of the South Island, it’s famous for golden-sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and lush native forest. The park is best explored by foot or kayak along the Abel Tasman Coast Track, one of New Zealand’s Great Walks, with many choosing to combine hiking and sea kayaking to explore hidden coves, sea arches, and seal colonies.
Abel Tasman National Park boasts some of the warmest and most pleasant weather in all of New Zealand, with tons of sunny days to explore the endless pocket beaches around every corner. You won’t have to compete for space with crowds here, because the water access spreads people out and naturally reduces the amount of visitors that can access this New Zealand national park.
We recommend planning a tour to hike in and kayak out, or head out for a self-guided sea kayaking journey to the many remote campsites. You can rent gear in Mārahau and head NW along the cost, passing beach after beach, many with campsites tucked away in the trees.
Fun fact: The park is named after Abel Tasman, the first European explorer to sight New Zealand in 1642—but he never actually set foot here.
Key Park Information:
Where: 1 hour from Nelson, North Tip of South Island
Main Activities: Kayaking, Hiking, Camping
How To Get There: Drive from Nelson 1 hour
Best For: Campers, Hikers, Intermediate Kayakers
Nelson Lakes National Park
A Wild Expanse Of Rolling Mountains, Deep Forests and Tranquil Lakes Make A Nature Lover’s Paradise.
Centered around the glacial lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa, this park offers alpine scenery, beech forests, and serene lakefronts. It’s a favorite for kayaking, fishing, and hiking the Travers–Sabine Circuit. The still waters and mirror reflections make it a photographer’s dream.
Nelson Lake National Park is a little tucked away, which makes it a less visited park in New Zealand. That combined with the expansive mountainous territory makes this place a favorite for hikers seeking some solitude and peace in the wilds. Come backpacking here, or camp near the lakes and swim in the fresh water.
Fun fact: It’s home to the longest insect in the world, the New Zealand giant wētā.
Key Park Information:
Where: 1 hour from Nelson
Main Activities: Hiking, Camping
How To Get There: Drive from Nelson
Best For: Campers, Off The Beaten Path Hikers
Arthur’s Pass National Park
Where Lush West Coast Meets Towering Peaks To Form Glaciers And Dramatic Landscapes.
Straddling the Southern Alps, Arthur’s Pass is known for its rugged alpine terrain, deep gorges, and high mountain passes. It’s a paradise for climbers and trampers, with challenging ascents like Avalanche Peak. Keep an eye out for the cheeky kea, New Zealand’s alpine parrot.
Arthur’s Pass is one of the few places where you can see the rolling tussock and open grasslands transform into lush, West Coast rain forest in a matter of minutes! One end of the park is dry and wide open, while the other end is a prolific tangle of flora, blanketing even the steepest sections of mountain. We recommend basing yourself in Arthur’s Pass Village for a few nights and spending your days hiking up high into the alpine on the abundant trails. Peak summer season is the best time for hiking in the national park, as the snow can come fast and stay for a while!
Fun fact: Arthur’s Pass was the first national park in the South Island, established in 1929.
Key Park Information:
Where: 2-3 hours from Christchurch
Main Activities: Hiking
How To Get There: Drive from Christchurch
Best For: Serious Hikers
Westland Tai Poutini National Park
A Glacier Lover’s Dream. Westland National Park Is Where People And Glaciers Meet In The Mountains To Play.
Stretching from the peaks of the Southern Alps to the wild Tasman Sea, this park features lush rainforests, Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers, and rugged coastline. You can hike, heli-ski, or take guided glacier tours. It’s one of the few places on Earth where glaciers descend into temperate rainforest.
The size of the terrain in Westland Tai Poutini National Park is something words can’t adequately describe. The distant views of glaciers, soon become realities underfoot for avid hikers, and for the less active, glacier access is still feasible on helicopter-supporting glacier tours! This is a wild place, dominated by tough mountains and harsh glaciers, sprinkled with that magical New Zealand touch of soft flora and abundant opportunity for adventure.
Fun fact: It’s part of the Te Wāhipounamu UNESCO World Heritage Area.
Key Park Information:
Where: From Punakaiki to Franz Josef Glacier
Main Activities: Hiking, Nature Discovery
How To Get There: Drive from Queenstown or Christchurch
Best For: Glacier Lovers, Hikers
Aoraki/ Mount Cook National Park
Stunning Alpine Landscapes An Iconic Lake, Covered In A Dark Sky Filled With Stars In Mount Cook National Park.
Dominated by Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain (3,724 m), this park is an alpine wonderland of glaciers, ice cliffs, and starlit skies. It’s a hub for mountaineering, glacier hiking, and scenic flights, including heli-hikes on the Tasman Glacier. The Hooker Valley Track provides stunning alpine views accessible to all.
The accessibility to the most impressive views in the park is one of the things that make this one of the best national parks in New Zealand. Mount Cook dominates the views from the moment you enter the park, until the moment you leave, so you don’t have to be special to get a good view of the mountains. Hiking the Hooker Valley Trail is delightfully gentle, with scenes that make you feel like you are approaching Mount Everest! While so much of the park is easily accessible, there are plenty of opportunities for more adventurous mountain explorers in the national park as well! The mountaineering is endless and the amount of wild places to explore would take a lifetime to see!
Fun fact: Sir Edmund Hillary trained here before summiting Everest.
Key Park Information:
Where: Between Queenstown & Christchurch
Main Activities: Hiking, Star Gazing, Mountaineering
How To Get There: Drive 2 hours from Queenstown or 3 hours from Christchurch
Best For: Campers, Star Gazers, Intermediate Hikers
Mount Aspiring National Park
Sprawling Mountain Wilderness Hosts Glaciers that perch high on ledges, with waterfalls streaming into the valleys below.
Named after the striking Mount Aspiring / Tititea (3,033 m), this park is a rugged wilderness paradise located at the intersection of the Southern Alps and the West Coast rainforest. It's a favorite for hikers, climbers, and backcountry adventurers. The Routeburn Track begins here, and jet boating up the Matukituki River is another thrill.
Mount Aspiring National Park stretches from the borders of Westland Tai Poutini National Park, far south, to Fiordland National Park, protecting an unimaginably beautiful stretch of mountainous wilderness. A mountaineers paradise and a hikers dream, Mount Aspiring National Park is one of the best parks in New Zealand to explore empty trails in the mountains. We recommend a day hike on the Rob Roy Glacier Track for some surreal views of glaciers perched high on a ledge with waterfalls streaming down the mountainsides below.
Fun fact: Several ‘Lord of the Rings’ scenes were filmed in the park's valleys and rivers.
Key Park Information:
Where: Between Wanaka & Fox Glacier, 2 hours from Queenstown
Main Activities: Hiking, Mountaineering
How To Get There: Drive 1 hour from Wanaka
Best For: Serious Hikers, Mountaineers
Fiordland National Park
New Zealand’s Largest National Park, Fiordland Is Home To Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, and Known For Otherworldly waterfalls, mountains and deep beech forests.
Fiordland is New Zealand’s largest national park and arguably its most dramatic. Famed for majestic fiords like Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, the park features towering peaks, ancient rainforests, and thunderous waterfalls. Its remoteness and scale make it a haven for nature lovers. Fiordland is also home to the Milford Track, one of the world's greatest walks, and offers kayaking, scenic flights, and diving among rare black coral.
Fiordland National Park is one of the most iconic places to visit in New Zealand, with Milford Sound right at the heart of it. This is the essential New Zealand experience that lies at the heart of every travelers bucket list. Fiordland is legendary for nature sightseeing, with the cruises in Milford and Doubtful Sound, but also for hiking and trekking along the Milford Track, Routeburn Track and countless day trails. Rich, coastal forests give way to sheer rock walls, decorated in waterfalls, including the tallest waterfall in New Zealand!
Fun fact: Sir David Attenborough called Milford Sound the “eighth wonder of the world.”
Key Park Information:
Where: South Tip of South Island- 2 hours from Queenstown
Main Activities: Hiking, Cruises
How To Get There: Drive 2 hours from Queenstown, Shuttles Available
Best For: Nature Lovers, Hikers
Paparoa National Park
Paparoa National Park is where glow worm strewn caverns and misty west coast rain forests meet mysterious coastal rock formations.
Paparoa blends limestone cliffs, canyons, caves, and rainforest in a uniquely dramatic West Coast landscape. It’s best known for the Pancake Rocks and blowholes at Punakaiki. The park’s Paparoa Track is one of New Zealand’s newest Great Walks, designed for both hikers and mountain bikers.
Paproa National Park is home to some of the most mysterious attractions in New Zealand, including some secret places that are tough to find! This is the ultimate destination for all thins underground, from cave floats, to glow worms and exploring underground caverns. That is not to say that there isn’t plenty to do above ground, if you’d still like to get a tan on your New Zealand national park vacation! Hike through winding limestone gorges, and below thick canopies of coastal rain forest.
Fun fact: The park was expanded in memory of the Pike River Mine disaster victims, and the track commemorates them.
Key Park Information:
Where: West Coast, near Pukaiki
Main Activities: Hiking
How To Get There: Drive 3-4 hours from Christchurch
Best For: Nature Lovers
Kahurangi National Park
Think Marble Mountains framing in palm lined beaches that behold picturesque sea caves from your windows desktop screensaver.
New Zealand’s second-largest national park, Kahurangi spans wild rivers, marble mountains, and dense bush. It’s a biodiversity hotspot, home to the rare great spotted kiwi. Adventure seekers explore the Heaphy Track, kayak rivers, or delve into caves in the Karst landscapes.
This is an off the beaten path national park in New Zealand, filled with adventure opportunities. Rushing rivers feed into wide open ocean on the coast and forests blanket the land, giving way to panoramic headlands and beaches. You’d recognize scenes here from your phone and computer screensavers, as some of the sea stacks and sea caves combined with the glowing West Coast sunsets are too much to pass up. You won’t read much about this place, as so much hype is around Milford Sound, but we absolutely recommend making this part of your national parks holiday in New Zealand.
Fun fact: The Heaphy Track was once a Māori trade route connecting the West Coast to the Golden Bay area.
Key Park Information:
Where: North-West Corner of The South Island, 2 hours from Nelson
Main Activities: Hiking
How To Get There: Driving 2 hours from Nelson
Best For: Photographers, Hikers
Rakiura National Park
Rakiura National Park is New Zealand’s Newest National Park, Tucked Away On Stuart Island, This Remote Slice Of Heaven Is Known For It’s Glowing skies, a result of the fiery sunsets and dancing spectacle of the Aurora Australis.
While not on the South Island mainland, Rakiura is often visited alongside it. The park covers about 85% of Stewart Island, offering unspoiled forests, birdlife, and one of the best places to see the kiwi in the wild. The Rakiura Track is a top draw for trekkers.
What Rakiura has to offer is hard to replicate elsewhere. Being the furthest south point in New Zealand means a lot of things, including dark skies and unobstructed views! This is where you are closest to the south pole, which makes this the best place to see the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis. The vibrant sunsets reflecting across one of the longest stretches of open ocean on the planet makes for a remarkable sight as well!
Fun fact: It’s one of the best places in the Southern Hemisphere to view the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights).
Key Park Information:
Where: Stuart Island, South of the South Tip of South Island
Main Activities: Nature Photography, Wildlife Viewing
How To Get There:
Best For: Photography and Night Sky Gazing
National Parks In New Zealand
With so many National Parks in New Zealand it can be tough to narrow down and pick the right ones to include on your vacation. Many of the national parks listed in this guide can be linked together in a road trip, depending on how long your trip is. We suggest planning a trip around the South Island in a few ways.
One, you can bundle the parks on the North half of the South Island, connecting Arthur’s Pass, Westland, Paparoa, Kahurangi and Abel Tasman, plus Nelson Lakes. This is a fantastic loop for hikers, campers and travelers keen on forests, canyons and lakes.
Two, you can link the parks of the South half of the South Island, connecting Arthur’s Pass, Westland, Mount Aspiring, Fiordland and Mount Cook National Parks. This is the perfect road trip for adventurers in search of big mountains, wild valleys and massive lakes.
We visit the parks on the south half on our New Zealand South Island Active Walking Tour. Over the course of 13 days you experience the best parks, along with the hidden gems that make New Zealand such an unforgettable destination. Join us for the adventure of a lifetime!
Interested in explore more wild places and National Parks? Check out our guide to the best parks in Alaska!
More New Zealand National Parks Information
-
No, you do not need to book a guided service or tour to visit the national parks in New Zealand. You can visit the parks on your own.
Hiring a local guide, or joining a guided tour can enhance your experience in the park, since you will have access to local knowledge and expertise that your guide provides, which usually means being able to visit the best places and avoiding crowds.
-
You do not need to pay to visit the national parks in New Zealand, though you may need to pay something for extra services, like overnight accommodations, campsites, hut bookings and parking fees.
Day visitors do not need to pay to enter the New Zealand national parks.
-
Most of the National Parks in New Zealand are road accessible, so you can drive right into the parks and access the main parking areas. There are some parks, like Rakiura, that are not road accessible and would require a ferry, boat or plane to access the park.
About The Author
Alex Ross- Lead Guide/ Founder
Let’s just say Alex didn’t want to work a real job when he grew up. He had his heart set on avoiding any kind of accounting, human resources, compliance, marketing and business administration, in order to be free for his dream job as a ski guide. Now he guides people on skis, but mostly does accounting, human resources, compliance, marketing and business administration work!