Wild Camping in national Parks
Hey there,
I would like to know if it allowed to camp with your tent in National Parks outside of campsites and if no is anyone actually controlling it?
Cheers
20 comments
11–20 of 20
Page: 12
Camping at the head of Mackenzie will get you shooed away as a matter of principle. If you're visible from the zig zags on the track then DOC will get everyone trying to camp for free there.
You need to be an hour and a half up under Emily Pass at the large clearing at 1200m for discreet freedom camping.
There are a lot of things that are quite sensible to do as long as not too many people are doing them but would become a major problem if everyone started doing it. I'd be reluctant to share too much information on the internet about possibly legal wild camping in the vicinity of Great Walks such as the Routeburn, what if it ends up being posted where it is widely seen and a great number of people start doing the Routeburn by camping at say the head of Lake McKenzie or a couple of other places where it might be possible and not explicitly prohibited at the moment.
Good thinking Ian_H. With social media any place to camp free gets spread around and the hordes descend. Some poor farmer in Golden Bay has upwards of 100 vehicles PER NIGHT on his riverside land. Social media means a constant flow of new people arriving every day. Admittedly not a National Park but it, no doubt, does happen to a lesser degree in them.
Go off track. WAAAAAAAYYYYYY off track! I'm sure not only a) will DOC not mind, and b) no SOB will find out anyway, if you just make your own way into the bush or across the tops.
As you know, I'm currently living in NZs largest NP. Yes, there are a number of huts around, and I plan to visit as many of them as I can. Let's face it; huts are more comfortable. BUT there are be-a-UTIFUL! ridgelines, hanging valleys, gnarly streams etc that I want to explore. Without a hut within cooee. I'll need to sleep somewhere, so......
Yeah. Just don't camp within 500m of any DOC track or hut, and you'll be pretty sweet, I reckon.
There are two good spots to camp off track on the Routeburn that are in my view not environmentally sensitive:
Route Burn North Branch north of Routeburn Flats Hut. If people camp here, I'd encourage them to make use of the hut toilets on the way past.
Greenstone Saddle Campsite. This is a clearing with toilet near Lake Howden. No charge for camping.
@Matthew I got a bit confused trying to find Greenstone-Saddle campsite in Dec, have you been there recently? There was a sign a little way before it saying 'Howden Campsite' so I kept going, worried I'd need a permit. Ended up camping with Lake McKellar in view. In hindsight the campsite I'd passed was definitely GS as I saw the lone toilet, but the sign had put me off.
Yeah, that was the one @SianS. It's the only toilet structure south of Howden Hut that's not actually at a hut. DOC really does need to sign post it better, specifying that it's not part of the Great Walk and is free to stay at.
It's not even mentioned in the Greenstone-Caples brochure, but is on its map. I found it odd. I guess they just don't want people to know that it's there, only 30 minutes or so from the Routeburn track, and free to use…
@SianS:
Yes, funny, I've done the same thing, assumed that because it's signposted "Howden Campsite", it is associated with Howden Hut and part of the Great Walks, so needs booking/paying in advance in the same way as the Lake McKenzie Hut or Routeburn Flats campsites. I don't mind paying, but didn't want to get in a potential argument with the Howden Hut warden regarding penalty fees for not having a booking so camped 50 yards off the Greenstone track further down. Found out from the warden afterwards it's not part of the Great Walks system.
I wouldn't have minded paying either @Ian_H but all booked out when I wanted to go... very weird it's signposted 'Howden Campsite' and no mention of it being called that anywhere else!
I was exhausted by the time I realised so couldn't face retracing my steps. Luckily there was one tent-sized spot that wasn't in swamp territory
11–20 of 20
Page: 12
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| Forum | The campfire |
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| Started by | Timeman |
| On | 26 January 2017 |
| Replies | 19 |
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