Arthur’s Pass National Park

Over the main divide of the Southern Alps is named after Arthur Dudley Dobson who heard of the existence of the mountain pass from a Maori chief, Tarapuhi. Dobson and his brothers, George and Edward, became the first Europeans to cross it in 1864. The township of Arthur’s Pass is 5 km south of the pass, virtually on the border of Canterbury and Westland. Dobson (then Sir Arthur) wrote later that the gold rush on the West Coast hastened interest in a pass through from Canterbury and by 1866 the highway was built, by more than a thousand men. Arthur’s Pass National Park is 99,270 ha and established in 1929. It has a beautiful wilderness area, sharing a common boundary with Westland National Park, established in 1960 over 117,547 ha. Between them the two parks contain a number of spectacular Southern Alps peaks, the Tasman, Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, and large areas of luxuriant rain forest.

Things to do in Arthur’s Pass National Park:
Walk one of the tracks that begin around Arthur’s Pass village to see forest, waterfalls, alpine gardens and mountain tops.
Walk the famous Dobson walk.
Follow the historic trail around Arthur’s Pass village.
Go for an overnight hike using DOC huts to stay in.
Climb a mountain if you are a mountain climber.