Lake Wardell Rest Area Overnight Campervan Parking
Twizel
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Lake Wardell Rest Area Overnight Campervan Parking
Large camping area underneath pine trees
This is a large camping area underneath pine trees, it's named after a lake but its a small pond really......
Just out of Twizel past the Pukaki-Ohau canel, before the Mt. Cook turn off.
Very basic facilities and is for self contained vehicles only.
Max 3 night stay.
Details
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Organisation |
MacKenzie District CouncilCouncil organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Mount Cook - MacKenzie ▷ Twizel |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Coordinates |
Freedom Camping
Nearby
Reviews
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5.0/5
Close to the road, not noisy at night, one long drop toilet, gets cleaned regularly and one of the best we had so far.
Many spaces, not crowded, easy to find a sheltered spot. Ground very uneven, might need to rearrange the car a few times but worth it! Loads of birds that are curious.
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4.0/5
Difficile de trouver un emplacement plat Un seul toilette qui peut donc être assez éloigné selon où vous vous installez
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4.0/5
Small camping area just off the road, fairly quiet and plenty of spots for parking up.
Has one toilet that was super clean!
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5.0/5
Stayed here a few times when passing this way, it's well sheltered and had a clean toilet.
Nice spot next to a pond and the canal. Good phone reception too which helps when writing reviews 🤣
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5.0/5
Really great place to relax, not over crowded, lake (pond) is small but for us it was perfect sitting g ft or a few days, peaceful and a great Oporto unwind.
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5.0/5
Beautiful place.
Easy access next to canals. We staying in our self contained caravan. Will def be back thats for sure. Quite magical.
No fish but worth it . Was one of the cleanest toilets ever. Well done to the people taking care of it .
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4.5/5
Great campsite, we loved it and it's free!
Lots of nice sheltered spots around the pond or in the "forest". Not busy or to crowded. Liked this better than the other one nearby. One clean dropdown toilet that had toliet paper.
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5.0/5
I think I left my blue and black rayban sunglasses in the toilet on the site.
Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone has found them, if they could leave a message on here. I'm in the area for a few more days. I would really appreciate it!
Cheers, Sam
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4.5/5
Tried to camp at the other campground by lake pukaki but it was very full and we had to park further up hill which meant nice views but far away from toilet and very exposed to wind.
Ended up moving as wind was super strong and went back down road to here. A lovely campsite and calm! Only a few vans here and the setting is a lush forest. Very clean toilet (long drop) and even has hand sanitizer! Weather was rubbish too so not worth staying at other campsite for mountain views (cloudy so still didn’t see mt cook)
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4.0/5
Beautiful sheltered spot.
Quiet at this time of year. New clean and smell free long drop. 1 minute walk and your fishing in the canal. 15 min walk to the outlet from Pukaki. Close enough to Twizel if you need something but far enough away to feel like your out in the boonies. Free stargazing.
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5.0/5
Close to the road, not noisy at night, one long drop toilet, gets cleaned regularly and one of the best we had so far.
Many spaces, not crowded, easy to find a sheltered spot. Ground very uneven, might need to rearrange the car a few times but worth it! Loads of birds that are curious.
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4.0/5
Difficile de trouver un emplacement plat Un seul toilette qui peut donc être assez éloigné selon où vous vous installez
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4.0/5
Small camping area just off the road, fairly quiet and plenty of spots for parking up.
Has one toilet that was super clean!
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5.0/5
Stayed here a few times when passing this way, it's well sheltered and had a clean toilet.
Nice spot next to a pond and the canal. Good phone reception too which helps when writing reviews 🤣
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5.0/5
Really great place to relax, not over crowded, lake (pond) is small but for us it was perfect sitting g ft or a few days, peaceful and a great Oporto unwind.
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5.0/5
Beautiful place.
Easy access next to canals. We staying in our self contained caravan. Will def be back thats for sure. Quite magical.
No fish but worth it . Was one of the cleanest toilets ever. Well done to the people taking care of it .
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4.5/5
Great campsite, we loved it and it's free!
Lots of nice sheltered spots around the pond or in the "forest". Not busy or to crowded. Liked this better than the other one nearby. One clean dropdown toilet that had toliet paper.
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5.0/5
I think I left my blue and black rayban sunglasses in the toilet on the site.
Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone has found them, if they could leave a message on here. I'm in the area for a few more days. I would really appreciate it!
Cheers, Sam
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4.5/5
Tried to camp at the other campground by lake pukaki but it was very full and we had to park further up hill which meant nice views but far away from toilet and very exposed to wind.
Ended up moving as wind was super strong and went back down road to here. A lovely campsite and calm! Only a few vans here and the setting is a lush forest. Very clean toilet (long drop) and even has hand sanitizer! Weather was rubbish too so not worth staying at other campsite for mountain views (cloudy so still didn’t see mt cook)
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4.0/5
Beautiful sheltered spot.
Quiet at this time of year. New clean and smell free long drop. 1 minute walk and your fishing in the canal. 15 min walk to the outlet from Pukaki. Close enough to Twizel if you need something but far enough away to feel like your out in the boonies. Free stargazing.
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4.0/5
Great freedom camping!
All sorts of spots and pretty isolated from each other. New drop toilet that gets cleaned each morning. We enjoyed this spot!
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4.5/5
Nice quieter site we were heading for site further up but came across this & got a perfect pitch so stayed, it was by the side of private road & bear the toilet block which we used & it was fine.
The lake colours are amazing & good place to stay so would recommend it, got to say most tourist do respect the freedom sites & have the self contained vans so the comment made earlier be a NZ camper is unfair as we’ve seen plenty of people in none rental vehicles staying over night which can’t be tourists, great place to stay near Twizel
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4.5/5
Lots of shady spaces under the pine trees, conveniently located near Mt Cook NP and only a short drive from Twizel.
Drop toilets were fine. BYO toilet paper.
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4.0/5
Lovely big open areas to camp and still have privacy.
2 hole in ground loos, but we used our own amenities. Rainbow and Brown trout caught in the canal at the back of the lake. Great eating. Remember to take all your rubbish with you to keep NZ green.
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4.5/5
Would be 10/10 if there had been a flush toilet.
Cold and starry night, free stargazing. Nice place to stay the night.
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5.0/5
For me it’s one of the best Free Campsites in New Zealand!
It’s in the middle of nowhere (okay 10mins drive from Twizel where the next 4Square is!)
It has just one toilet and of course this one smells -so it is when there is no water(I had definitely worse ones!)
But it’s right at a lake surrounded by trees😍
The sunset the next morning was unbeatable!
Close to Lake Pukaki and Mt.Cook
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3.5/5
Arrived at night time.
Was quiet at night and woke up to a beautiful view of the mountains. Struggled to find the bathroom at night. It was free so well worth the stop.
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4.5/5
Lovely spot sheltered from the wind.
Only longdrop toilets but it's free. Unfortunately while we there it was spoiled by non self contained travellers who persisted in using the trees as their toilet area despite a perfectly good longdrop being available. People like this will eventually lead to free areas like this being designated non camping spots and then we all miss out. These individuals where foreign tourists and it shows a complete lack of respect for our country.
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3.5/5
Large area.
Easy to find a quiet spot. Great for self-contained vehicles. Not too far to drive back to Mt Cook Lookout for good clean toilets, if necessary.
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4.0/5
Nice place, only ones there at this time of year.
Pond was frozen, beautiful location. Long drop toilet, bring toilet paper if going to use it. Good facilities 2km away at Lake Pukaki Information Centre anyways.
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3.5/5
only a longdrop, but its ok, you can drive easily enough to decent public toilets in twizel in the morning.
convenient to highway. quite large area but was still crowded, in january.
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4.0/5
Basic campground just off main road.
Really easy to find a private spot in the trees which felt like we were the only ones there. Very basic long drop toilet - no water tap as far as we could see. Fine for self contained vehicles.
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4.5/5
This is a lovely spot under the tree beside the canal immediately below the Pukaki dam.
Great fishing in the canal
