Travel Guide Kahurangi National Park

Established almost three decades ago (in 1996) and covering 451,000 hectares, Kahurangi National Park is the newest of the fourteen national parks and the second largest after Fiordland National Park. This large reserve has a unique flora with more than half of the country's endemic plants (just over 1,200 species). Of these, sixty-seven species are found only here and 80% of New Zealand's alpine plants are found here. It is also home to nearly one hundred species of birds, eighteen of which are native and some of which are endangered, such as the Great Spotted Kiwi or the South Island Kaka. The very rare Powelliphanta also lives in this unique ecosystem: a carnivorous snail that can reach ten centimeters in diameter! Kahurangi National Park is covered by just under six hundred kilometers of hiking trails and is crossed by the Karamea River, a river that is very popular with canoeists and rafters. Kahurangi National Park is accessed via Golden Bay in the Tasman region to the north and via SH6 or Karamea in the West Coast region to the south. From the charming Karamea, one can access the very special Oparara Basin, with its thirty-five million year old rocks and famous limestone caves, like Honeycomb Hill Cave. The karst landscape of this park is a must-see on your journey!