Arthur's Pass National Park

The national park is open throughout the year. The main summer season is in December and January. There is skiing in winter.

The tourist potential of this wild and romantic range was soon realized. The first sightseeing tour was organized in the 19th C, running over the pass to the west coast and continuing south to the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers. In time the view gained ground that the government must take steps to protect the unique vegetation of this area and in 1901 700 sq.km of land round the pass were declared a nature reserve. After various extensions to the protected area Arthur's Pass National Park was established in 1929. With an area of almost 1000 sq.km, it is New Zealand's fourth-largest national park. The scenery of the national park shows great variety, since the park takes in the two very different sides of the Southern Alps. The altitude ranges between 245m on the Tamarakau River and over 2000m on mounts Rolleston, Murchison and Franklin. Rainfall ranges between an annual 5000 mm on the west side and 1700 mm on the drier east side.

Among the finest and best-known walks from Arthur's Pass village are the Devil's Punchbowl Walk (c 2 hours), the Bridal Veil Nature Walk round the 130m high Bridal Veil waterfall (c 2 hours), the Dobson Nature Walk (c 4 hours) and the Bealey Valley Walk (c 4 hours).