Lake Wardell Rest Area Overnight...

Lake Wardell Rest Area Overnight Campervan Parking

Twizel

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Information

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

Feature Value Info

Organisation

MacKenzie District Council

Council organisation

Location

South IslandMount Cook - MacKenzieTwizel

Categories

  • Activity__freedom_campingFreedom Camping
  • Free

Directions

To Coordinates

Coordinates

-44.19505001

170.1212667

Latitude
-44.19505001
Longitude
170.1212667

Nearby

Reviews

    ✓ Quiet at night

    ✓ Clean long drop toilet

    ✓ Lots of curious birds

    ✓ Many parking spaces

    ✓ Not crowded

    𐄂 Uneven ground

    𐄂 Single toilet

    • Great freedom camping!
    • Great campsite, we loved it and it's free!
    • Arrived at night time.
    • Gday staying at lake warredall is great.
    • Beautiful place.
    Rating Count Percentage
    10/10 9
    33%
    9/10 7
    26%
    8/10 8
    30%
    7/10 3
    11%
    6/10 0
    0%
    5/10 0
    0%
    4/10 0
    0%
    3/10 0
    0%
    2/10 0
    0%
    1/10 0
    0%
  • 5.0/5

    Gday staying at lake warredall is great.

    It is free with a donation box next to long drop,so please DONATE to keep it clean. Suggestion $3.00 per nite p/p. Thank you.

    Reviewed 21 days ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed about 1 year ago

  • 4.0/5

    Difficile de trouver un emplacement plat Un seul toilette qui peut donc être assez éloigné selon où vous vous installez

    Reviewed about 1 year ago

  • 5.0/5

    Lovely forest quiet free campsite with clean toilet.Lived it.

    Reviewed almost 3 years ago

    Roz's avatar

    Roz

  • 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!

    Reviewed almost 4 years ago

  • 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 🤣

    Reviewed almost 4 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 4 years ago

  • 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 .

    Reviewed over 4 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 5 years ago

  • 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

    Reviewed almost 5 years ago

    Sam's avatar

    Sam

  • 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)

    Reviewed about 5 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    Gday staying at lake warredall is great.

    It is free with a donation box next to long drop,so please DONATE to keep it clean. Suggestion $3.00 per nite p/p. Thank you.

    Reviewed 21 days ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed about 1 year ago

  • 4.0/5

    Difficile de trouver un emplacement plat Un seul toilette qui peut donc être assez éloigné selon où vous vous installez

    Reviewed about 1 year ago

  • 5.0/5

    Lovely forest quiet free campsite with clean toilet.Lived it.

    Reviewed almost 3 years ago

    Roz's avatar

    Roz

  • 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!

    Reviewed almost 4 years ago

  • 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 🤣

    Reviewed almost 4 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 4 years ago

  • 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 .

    Reviewed over 4 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 5 years ago

  • 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

    Reviewed almost 5 years ago

    Sam's avatar

    Sam

  • 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)

    Reviewed about 5 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed about 5 years ago

  • 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!

    Reviewed over 5 years ago

  • 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

    Reviewed almost 6 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 6 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed about 6 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed about 6 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    People stop shutting every where and take your rubbish .

    Reviewed about 6 years ago

  • 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

    Reviewed over 6 years ago and experienced in March 2018

  • 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.

    Reviewed over 7 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 8 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    Quiet private place to park up with a long drop.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed over 9 years ago

  • 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.

    Reviewed over 9 years ago and experienced in December 2014

  • 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.

    Reviewed over 10 years ago and experienced in January 2014

  • 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.

    Reviewed almost 11 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    This is a lovely spot under the tree beside the canal immediately below the Pukaki dam.

    Great fishing in the canal

    Reviewed almost 13 years ago