National Parks

The Parks in the Nelson Province are diverse and offer many different experiences for those who explore them.

Click here to see a map of the National Parks in the Nelson Region.


Read about each of the parks below:

Abel Tasman National Park
Kahurangi National Park
Nelson Lakes National Park
Mt Richmond Forest Park

Abel Tasman National Park

The Abel Tasman at 22,500ha (56,000 acres) is the smallest National Park in New Zealand but it’s outstanding attractive coastline makes it the second most visited National Park in the country.

The area has a very rich history. Maori lived along it’s coastline for 500 years with it’s plentiful source of seafood and valleys for growing vegetables. In 1642 the Dutch Explore Abel Tasman encountered the Ngati Tumatakokiri people in the north and following an altercation lost 4 men and set sail having never set foot on land. There were various visits by Europeans from the early 1800’s with permanent settlement from around 1855. The area was logged to make way for farming as well as quarrying granite rock. Concern grew with the deforestation and in 1942 the Government formed the area into a National Park.

Today the park is noted for it’s golden sandy beaches, rocky outcrops and estuaries all of which can been seen within a day. Simply Wild operates a wide range of activities in the Abel Tasman including private boat trips, sailing, hiking and sea kayaking.

For more information on the Abel Tasman from the Department of Conservation please click here. Or some of it's history click here.

Kahurangi National Park

Kahurangi means “treasured possession” and that’s the way we feel about the Park. It has incredibly diverse landscape features from sub tropical rainforest, tussock covered high country, alpine lakes, jaggered alpine peaks, glorious coastlines and river valleys. It’s the second largest National Park at 452,000ha (or about 1 million acres) and includes some of the oldest rocks in New Zealand, streams that disappear under ground and reappear great distances away, sinkholes, caves and the marble mountains of Mt Arthur and Mt Owen. It’s wide diversity of fauna can be typified by a nocturnal carnivorous land snail.

Areas of the Kahurangi have been occupied by Maori since the 14th century and were well travelled by Maori active in the pounamu (greenstone) trade. In 1846 Charles Heaphy and Thomas Brunner were the first Europeans to traverse the park and Heaphy’s name is now given to the Great Walk of New Zealand that runs though the Park.

While the Kahurangi is a true wilderness park, Simply Wild does make it much more accessible with hiking, heli hiking, rafting, with many trips not encountering another soul.

For more information on the Kahurangi from the Department of Conservation please click here.

Nelson Lakes National Park

Nelson Lakes is a classic glaciated alpine area featuring clear rivers and lakes surrounded by tranquil beech forest and craggy peaks. It is just over an hour to drive from Nelson City to the Nelson Lakes where visitors can enjoy some of the most spectacular mountain and forest scenery in New Zealand with clear streams and rivers and forests full of native birds including New Zealand’s smallest – the Rifleman.

There is a good selection of short half day hiking tracks with two iconic multi-day hikes over mountain passes to Lake Angelus (2 to 3 days) and the Travers – Sabine Circuit (3 to 4 days). It is possible to take stunning alpine, forest and lake photos in the Nelson Lakes National Park – sometimes within an hour or two’s walk of St Arnaud (the most popular entry point to the Park).

Simply Wild offers 4WD and powerboat access to the National Park enabling visitors to access some of the scenic highlights. Longer hikes reward visitors with even better scenery.

For more information on the Nelson Lakes National Park from the Department of Conservation please click here.

Mt Richmond Forest Park

This park is right on Nelson’s door step and has a some very interesting geology with the early settlers being very active in mining in later 1800’s.

Simply Wild operates heli biking trips to Dun Mountain and a heli hike to Mt Richmond.

For more information on Mt Richmond Forest Park from the Department of Conservation please click here