Kahurangi National Park

Kahurangi is the second-largest national park in New Zealand and the wildest of the three around Nelson. It contains the Heaphy Track — one of the Great Walks — limestone karst at Mount Owen and Mount Arthur, and one of the country's better collections of cave systems. The park is about two hours from Nelson at its nearest entry point.

It is harder to dip into for a day than Abel Tasman, but day walks at Cobb Valley, Mount Arthur Hut, and Flora Saddle give a taste of the alpine country. Most visitors who get serious about Kahurangi do the full Heaphy, either on foot or, in winter only, by mountain bike.

things to do sight hiking
A story
The Heaphy Track was originally a Māori greenstone route between the Tasman coast and the West Coast; pounamu (jade) from the West Coast was carried east, and dried fish and bird oil went the other way. The current Great Walk follows much of the same line, four to five days through beech forest, alpine tussock, and palm groves to a wild coast.