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

Reviewed 2 months ago and experienced in February 2024

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

Reviewed over 1 year ago

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.

Reviewed over 1 year ago

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

Reviewed almost 2 years ago

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 🏕

Reviewed almost 4 years ago

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.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

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.

Reviewed 4 months ago

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

Reviewed over 1 year ago

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.

Reviewed over 1 year ago

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

Reviewed almost 2 years ago

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)

Reviewed almost 4 years ago

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.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

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

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

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.

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

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.

Reviewed over 5 years ago

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 !

Reviewed almost 6 years ago

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.

Reviewed almost 6 years ago

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.

Reviewed over 6 years ago

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!

Reviewed over 7 years ago