Mount Aspiring National Park
From Queenstown.net.nz
Mount Aspiring National Park is located in the South Island of New Zealand.
It was established in 1964 as New Zealands 10th national park. The park covers 3,555 km² at the southern end of the Southern Alps, directly to the west of Lake Wanaka, and is popular for tramping, walking and mountaineering. Mount Aspiring (3033 m) is the mountain which gives the park its name. Other prominent peaks within the park include Mount Pollux (2542 m) and Mount Brewster (2519 m).
The Haast Pass, one of the three principal road routes across the Southern Alps, is found in the northeastern corner of the park.
The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site.
Popular tramping tracks in the park include:
- Gillespie Pass circuit
- Matukituki Valley
- Routeburn Track
- Rees-Dart circuit
In April 2005 the Nature Heritage Fund purchased private land in the Landsborough River valley as an addition to the park. [1][2]
In December 2007, the New Zealand Conservation Authority declined an amendment to the Mount Aspiring National Park Management Plan that would have allowed for the construction of a new road and tunnel within Mount Aspiring National Park. The Milford Dart Company had planned to build a bus tunnel from part of the Routeburn Road to the Hollyford Valley to take tourists to Milford Sound. The tunnel proposal cannot proceed without amending the Mt Aspiring National Park management plan.[1]
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[edit] Visiting Mount Aspiring National Park
Mount Aspiring National Park lies in the Southern Alps of New Zealand's South Island, in the headwaters of Lake Wanaka. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of South West New Zealand, or Te Wahipounamu, which includes Fiordland National Park (to the south), Aoraki Mount Cook National Park and Westland National Park (both to the north).
[edit] Destinations
The nearest settlements to the park are:
[edit] See
- The Gates of Haast
- Waterfalls and subtropical rainforest.
[edit] Do
- Drive over the Haast Pass
- Climb Mount Aspiring or the other peaks in the area.
Glenorchy Air provides scenic flights over the Mount Aspiring National Park from Queenstown and Glenorchy • more info
[edit] Stay safe
This is about as remote as you can get in New Zealand, without getting off-road. Make sure your petrol tank is full and your car is in good working order.
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
[edit] References
This article uses material from "Mount Aspiring National Park" and Wikitravel, "Mount Aspiring National Park"
Any material derived from Wikitravel articles is released under the Creative Commons Attribution share alike licence
[edit] Map
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