Lindis Pass Historic Hotel Campsite
Nine Mile Historic Reserve
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Lindis Pass Historic Hotel Campsite
This is a basic campsite in Central Otago. This historic reserve is steeped in heritage and includes the remarkable remains of the Lindis Pass Historic Hotel.
A great opportunity to camp amongst historic ruins of a by-gone era at the Lindis Pass Historic Hotel. Enjoy the experience, but please don't remove any of the historical artefacts from the reserve.
From SH 8 take Old Faithful Road (unsealed) opposite Timburn Road. This 6km road is narrow and steep in places - not suitable for large campervans.
DOC Campsite Pricing
Lindis Pass Historic Hotel Campsite is categorised as a DOC Basic Campsite. The following pricing indicates usual pricing.
DOC Basic Campsite
Basic campsites have very limited facilities so you need to be fully self-sufficient. There are basic toilets and water may be from a water tank that is untreated, stream or lake. Untreated water should be boiled before use to ensure it's safe. Access may be by road or boat.
| Feature | Value | Value |
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| Unpowered Site | Adult | $0.00 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Child | $0.00 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Infant | $0.00 per night |
Adults are 18+ years, children are 5-17 years, infants are 0-4 years.
Details
| Feature | Value | Info |
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Organisation |
DOC OtagoCentral government organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Wanaka Township |
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Basic Camping
Reviews
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2.5/5
The dirt track is about 5km south of where the location is marked on the map.
Unsuitable for long vehicles, will definitely ground it in places. Road is either really smooth with mud (bad if it’s wet or icy) or really rocky and lots of deep potholes. There was a closed gate when I arrived but no sign saying the site was closed- think it was probably to keep livestock out. The drop loo is tiny with no paper or sanitiser.
Somebody else said this place had a creepy vibe to it and I took no notice. As soon as it was dark the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was the only one at this site and a solo traveller as well but I was convinced I could hear footsteps and voices close to me. I ended up getting so freaked out that I packed up everything and drove that dirt road a lot faster than I did on the way in. I was gone before 7pm. I’m sure it would be fine if you’ve got company or the site has more people but this place really does have a creepy vibe if you’re by yourself. Ended up at Lake Cromwell which felt much safer.
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5.0/5
Worth heading off the track for this one great historic site fantastic river and so close to the stars feels like you could almost touch them
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3.5/5
Dirt road was in better condition that we thought it’d be.
Bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer for long drop. In the middle of nowhere, no service or facilities around.
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4.0/5
Long gravel road to it but lovely to feel like you’re on an adventure.
Think any camper could get down there.
Cool spot with the remains of the hotel and the river.
Long drop slightly unpleasant but saw worse on the travels around
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4.5/5
Very good campsite at the end of a 5km shingle road, in great condition.
Easy access for cars and 2WD vehicles. Long- drop toilets (not DOC’s best work), no water other than the Lindis River. Good swimming hole on a hot day. Very good description of local history ( including the last gold miner) and buildings and old bridge piers still in place. This road was the bypass road when they rebuilt the existing main road, in the 1970’s. Good shelter and some shade but will be cold in the winter 🤣.
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5.0/5
The name "Historic hotel" certainly sums up what you find on arrival.
Neat to have the ruins to look around.
The campsite is about 6km along a gravel road, running parallel with the state highway.
There's plenty of grassey space for pitching a tent or parking up, and the stream very close by for swimming. BYO drinking water if you don't want to use the stream.
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4.0/5
The gravel road to get here is rough.
6km with lots of loose gravel and deep potholes. When you get there however the campsite is very serene and quite. The river drowns out the noise of the road. Very clean toilet when we got there during the day. Just lots and lots and lots of sandflies.
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1.5/5
dont bother drive to omarama village 40 minutes down the road rhere is a free campsite by the bridge Poor toilets in the middle of nowhere no signal took 20 minutes drive on a poor road to get
here just to turn around
creepy to be honest
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4.5/5
It's quite a drive on a very dusty road to get to it but I difinatly was not disappointed when we got there.
A very lovely spot to spend a night or two, the ruins are quite amazing. How ever although the toilet itself was acceptable it did not look like it had been emptied in a very long time it was so full but apart from that I thought it was beautiful...
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4.0/5
Nice camp site (for tents and caravans), comes with your usual bag of bugs.
There is no fee (freedom camping) and no cellphone reception.
Great piece of history and the river blocks out the road noise. The toilet was surprisingly clean and didn't smell when we arrived in the evening.
Some tips on getting there:
Take the Old Faithful Rd (dirt road) turn off. You will see a yellow arrow sign that says "Nine Mile Historic Reserve". The dirt road continues for roughly 15-20mins or about 6km. The road itself isn't too bad, just watch out for nasty potholes.
This is the only access way to the site. If you still stuck, turn on satellite images for the site and follow the dirt road to the highway and you will see the turn off.
Happy camping 🏕
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5.0/5
Loved this campsite.
I have driven past on the road on the other side of the river and I never knew it was there.
So quiet, even with the road on the other side of the river, all I could here was the river.
Beautiful ruins, good clean long drop too. I rate this highly.
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5.0/5
Awesome little spot.
Stayed here in winter after it had been raining so the road in was a bit of a mess. Had to put our snow chains on the next day or I don't think we would have got out in our van.
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5.0/5
Worth heading off the track for this one great historic site fantastic river and so close to the stars feels like you could almost touch them
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2.5/5
The dirt track is about 5km south of where the location is marked on the map.
Unsuitable for long vehicles, will definitely ground it in places. Road is either really smooth with mud (bad if it’s wet or icy) or really rocky and lots of deep potholes. There was a closed gate when I arrived but no sign saying the site was closed- think it was probably to keep livestock out. The drop loo is tiny with no paper or sanitiser.
Somebody else said this place had a creepy vibe to it and I took no notice. As soon as it was dark the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was the only one at this site and a solo traveller as well but I was convinced I could hear footsteps and voices close to me. I ended up getting so freaked out that I packed up everything and drove that dirt road a lot faster than I did on the way in. I was gone before 7pm. I’m sure it would be fine if you’ve got company or the site has more people but this place really does have a creepy vibe if you’re by yourself. Ended up at Lake Cromwell which felt much safer.
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3.5/5
Dirt road was in better condition that we thought it’d be.
Bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer for long drop. In the middle of nowhere, no service or facilities around.
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4.0/5
Long gravel road to it but lovely to feel like you’re on an adventure.
Think any camper could get down there.
Cool spot with the remains of the hotel and the river.
Long drop slightly unpleasant but saw worse on the travels around
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4.5/5
Very good campsite at the end of a 5km shingle road, in great condition.
Easy access for cars and 2WD vehicles. Long- drop toilets (not DOC’s best work), no water other than the Lindis River. Good swimming hole on a hot day. Very good description of local history ( including the last gold miner) and buildings and old bridge piers still in place. This road was the bypass road when they rebuilt the existing main road, in the 1970’s. Good shelter and some shade but will be cold in the winter 🤣.
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5.0/5
The name "Historic hotel" certainly sums up what you find on arrival.
Neat to have the ruins to look around.
The campsite is about 6km along a gravel road, running parallel with the state highway.
There's plenty of grassey space for pitching a tent or parking up, and the stream very close by for swimming. BYO drinking water if you don't want to use the stream.
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4.0/5
The gravel road to get here is rough.
6km with lots of loose gravel and deep potholes. When you get there however the campsite is very serene and quite. The river drowns out the noise of the road. Very clean toilet when we got there during the day. Just lots and lots and lots of sandflies.
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1.5/5
dont bother drive to omarama village 40 minutes down the road rhere is a free campsite by the bridge Poor toilets in the middle of nowhere no signal took 20 minutes drive on a poor road to get
here just to turn around
creepy to be honest
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4.5/5
It's quite a drive on a very dusty road to get to it but I difinatly was not disappointed when we got there.
A very lovely spot to spend a night or two, the ruins are quite amazing. How ever although the toilet itself was acceptable it did not look like it had been emptied in a very long time it was so full but apart from that I thought it was beautiful...
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4.0/5
Nice camp site (for tents and caravans), comes with your usual bag of bugs.
There is no fee (freedom camping) and no cellphone reception.
Great piece of history and the river blocks out the road noise. The toilet was surprisingly clean and didn't smell when we arrived in the evening.
Some tips on getting there:
Take the Old Faithful Rd (dirt road) turn off. You will see a yellow arrow sign that says "Nine Mile Historic Reserve". The dirt road continues for roughly 15-20mins or about 6km. The road itself isn't too bad, just watch out for nasty potholes.
This is the only access way to the site. If you still stuck, turn on satellite images for the site and follow the dirt road to the highway and you will see the turn off.
Happy camping 🏕
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3.0/5
Nice enough camp spot, flat and thick with grass.
Farmland, so no native bush, just weeds and exotics. Midges are a problem at dusk (as per usual NZ camps). However a new experience was with what I assume were dung beetles, or perhaps a small chafer ; if you are in a tent with a light on they will crawl/fly up everywhere around the tent fly, seemingly an endless supply of beetles. My advice is to turn the light off and they crawl back into the ground from whence they came. Kind of creepy place full of these beetles, rats, weeds and ruins. But free, soft, grassy and the sound of a nice river (road wasn't too noisy)
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5.0/5
Loved this campsite.
I have driven past on the road on the other side of the river and I never knew it was there.
So quiet, even with the road on the other side of the river, all I could here was the river.
Beautiful ruins, good clean long drop too. I rate this highly.
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5.0/5
Awesome little spot.
Stayed here in winter after it had been raining so the road in was a bit of a mess. Had to put our snow chains on the next day or I don't think we would have got out in our van.
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4.5/5
When you have the road, take, (just like another review) always keep to the right.
Price: free
Location: it's is a beautiful and special place, especially the history
Insects: a view sandflies
Wc’s: one longdrop toilet, it’s okay
Douche: no, but there is a creek you can wash in
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5.0/5
Really nice place amongst the ruins and close to a river where we saw many people going for a swim in the afternoon and in the morning.
The one toilet was clean. All in all a very nice free campsite
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4.5/5
Beautiful free campsite with a clean public toilet.
Totally enjoyed the scenery, greeted by cows, bulls, and sheeps :) location is pretty far to reach from the main road, but it's near the river to enjoy and the hotel remains are interesting. It was extremely windy though, went there in January. Bring your earplugs just in case, unless you are able to sleep like a rock.
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4.5/5
Cool place.
Easy to get to just keep to the right. A 2wd drive car can do it and campers can make it as long as it’s not too long. Went after several days of rain and no issues.
Nearby river is dirty so bring water. Bathroom is clean. There’s a little building with a fire place and table to cook. Watch out for the rat and mice.
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4.5/5
What a great spot this is!
It takes a 8km gravel road to get there, but that is worth it. Nice and calm although you can hear the cars on the other side of the rivier. One (clean) longdrop toilet.
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5.0/5
Free campsite well hidden off the beaten track.
We missed the turning initially, but soon found our way trundling up Old Faithful Road slowly. It is a bumpy gravel track but not too bad. It was bone dry when we ventured up there so can imagine it can be a bit troublesome after rain. It is also a long road, but the campsite is at the end (through two gates), so just keep going until you get there.
Very quiet there, plenty of space to set up with the small ruins on one side (we didn't venture in).
One very clean long drop toilet, hardly any smell at all.
Fantastic views of the milky way on a clear night, great little gem.
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4.5/5
Very basic but overal really nice campground.
Note that it is a bit remote - you have to drive about 6km on gravel road to the campground but you are rewarded with a pretty big and really quiet spot by the river near the Lindis Pass hotel ruins.
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5.0/5
Big place With Clean toilets, birds, grass and lovely river.
Perfect !
Not So hard to find : follow the gravel road approx 6K before the campsite (on your left hand if you are coming From the south)
Thanks new Zealand for this place. We love you !
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5.0/5
Truly amazing site.
We were lucky enough to stay there during a full moon. The moon light brought the hotel ruins to life. A must for any travellers.
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3.5/5
We turned around cause we thought we had missed it, but you just have to keep driving till you see the ruins.
The ruins were really neat, and the toilet was clean. (No toilet paper, so bring your own) I would give it a higher rating, but the sandflys were horrible! Maybe if we had some sort of repellent it would’ve been manageable, but we had to leave in the morning cause we couldn’t brush our teeth without getting sandflies in our mouths. We had a regular size campervan and it did just fine on the dirt road. There was a larger campervan that also made it. The road was all dried up so there wasn’t any difficulties with mud.
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1.5/5
Really not suitable for camper vans.
You will meet holes, mud and cows on the (long) gravels road. Not so quiet due to the main road which is just on the other side of the valley.
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3.5/5
Beautiful spot, but road too muddy for large campervans in May.
We got in but left early and were nervous we’d never leave again if it rained. No mobile reception. Beautiful hotel ruins tho. Will return when drier season or in a 4x4.
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4.0/5
Great spot if you're coming from the south, bit of a long road if you're coming from the north as you'd feel like you were turning back on yourself.
Nice spot with stream.
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3.5/5
Interesting gravel road to site but most vans should be ok.
Clean long drop. Bit of interest with the hotel & the old mine (worth a walk to). But beware---a mouse got into our van! Keep your food locked and out of reach!
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4.5/5
One of the best!
Plenty of space and relatively peaceful considering it's just across the stream from the road. Not signposted so go with your instinct. Gravel road is straightforward with a couple of gates to open. Just a toilet and a stream but what else do you need.
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4.0/5
A bit noisy.
Just one clean toilet, no water supply. A lot of room. Long road to go ... but free!
