Abel Tasman National Park

Abel Tasman National Park is the smallest national park in New Zealand and is situated within an area of only 25.3 square kilometres, bounded to north by the waters of Golden Bay and Tasman Bay.

In 2008 the land called Hadfields Clearing was included to the boundaries of the park and expanded park area with another 7.9 square kilometres.

The Park was established in 1942 and it was named after the first European explorer to sight New Zealand, Abel Tasman.

The Abel Tasman National Park is one of the places in New Zealand where the sun shines through most of the year. The precipitation is fairly small, around 1800 mm annually and the snow barely holds on the ground. In spite of the sunny weather, the park is also known as one the most windy places on the island.

The park is situated by several little islands, crescent-shaped bays, golden sand beaches, clear waters and many granite headlands formed by erosion. Here are the unique karst marbles Takaka Hill and Canaan Downs which are hosted one of the deepest caves in New Zealand, along with the New Zealand’s largest spring Waikoropupi Springs as well as a great number of sink-holes and disappearing streams. One of the greatest attractions in the marble area is the cave shaft Harwoods Hole with a vertical drop of 176 metres.

More than three quarters of the park is occupied by forests, which hold mainly beech varieties of trees. There are four species of beech such as black beech, hard beech, silver and mountain beech, each of which grows in various sites in the park.The vegetation is represented by red tussock, bog pine and sphagnum.

The fauna in the park is also very diverse, dominated mostly by wide range of birds as well as forest habitats and insects. Many rare species of birds have disappeared through the years but others such as kakas, parakeets, New Zealand falcons and keas are still residents of the park.

The Abel Tasman National Park has two tramping tracks, the remarkable walking tracks, Coast Track and the Inland Track that passing through undisturbed forest, reaching the highest part of the park.

The specific features of the park make it one of the best places for sea-kayaking.

Address:
Abel Tasman National Park
265 High Street
Nelson
New Zealand

Tel: +64 3528 2027

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