The Orari Gorge campsite is quite small but is very well set up with flush toilets and a good water supply.

There is plenty of grass for camping but in October the grounds were a bit soggy. The Orari Gorge walking track climbs up onto the ridge-line behind the camp. This site is a little "off the beaten track" with a few kilometres of good gravel road to reach it. A quiet and inexpensive spot not far from the Canterbury plains Inland Tourist Route.

Reviewed almost 5 years ago and experienced in October 2019

The Argyle reservoir has a small official campsite & slipway with flush toilets.

The general area of the power scheme and hydro canals also has a number of permitted sites for fully self contained vehicles. The official campsite is easily found by following the signposts from SH63 to Lake Argyle and slipway. Accessing the slipway campsite involves climbing the steep gravel road up onto the reservoir embankment then following the signs to the south eastern corner of the lake. This road is quite rough gravel and has some very large puddle-craters. Two small concrete fords (normally dry) have steep entry and exit ramps that may challenge low slung vehicles. Camping space at the slipway is limited and the ground is uneven. It is ground-zero for sandflies. There are flush toilets at the slipway campsite.

There are other potential csc campsites at the power scheme intake dam on the Branch river several km upstream of the Argyle reservoir and a signposted csc area among gum trees right next to SH63 on the entry road.. There are parking spaces close to powerhouse no.2 on the Wairau river and near to the tailrace at the northern end of the canal system.

All of the canals are stocked with trout but they don't reach the epic sizes of the fish in the famed hydro canals further south.

Three things to be aware of.

Lake Argyle is used occasionally for power boat events at which time the slipway will be a hive of activity and the lake will be unusable for other forms of recreation.

Fish and Game occasionally release large numbers of Rainbow trout into the lake. This is usually widely publicized and will produce a "gold-rush" of hopeful anglers. Around this time the campsite may be full of long-stayers.

The Branch/Argyle power scheme is largely surrounded by production pine forest and open farmland. At times of extreme fire danger the campsite may be closed.

Reviewed almost 6 years ago

Mill Flat is an extensive grassy opening on the floor of a mountain valley.

It is surrounded on all sides by forest and in itself is on a kind of boundary between native beech forest and production pine plantations. The Pine Valley stream borders one side of the camping area and provides pristine fresh water and a deep icy swimming hole. There are long-drop toilets but no other facilities.

It is possible to drive an ordinary vehicle on the rough and dusty Pine Valley Road up to a parking area from which the Mill Flat campsite is an easy 25 minute walk .. including a swing bridge across the stream to the campsite. The carpark and adjacent swimming hole would be a pleasant site for a fully self contained vehicle. There is now a toilet at the car park. 4x4 vehicles with reasonable ground clearance can negotiate the ford which is quite deep and uneven. Do not attempt to cross this stream if the river is high.

Mill Flat is a good place for safe and easily accessible "wilderness" camping. A continuation of the walking track through Mill Flat leads to the site of the former Pine Valley Hut and eventually to the mountain track to the summit of Mt Fishtail and the Richmond Range.

Since the time of writing my previous comment and new long-drop toilet has been constructed at the car park

Reviewed almost 5 years ago and experienced in July 2018

The McKee Memorial Reserve camping ground is pretty much the size of a full-on "motor camp" without the expensive facilities and entertainments.

The grounds are huge and camping spots are unmarked and very much first-come first-served. There are several blocks of flush toilets that are functional and clean but in the crowded week leading up to Christmas there was a queue in the early morning. For those of us who are self contained there is a good dump-station on the site. The custodian was very friendly. McKee's is a brilliant example of the type of no-frills budget-friendly camp that ought to make freedom-c..pp..g unnecessary.

Reviewed almost 7 years ago

For once we were touring without our van and stayed a night in the motel unit.

We found the owners helpful and friendly, the motel clean and well set up. There is obviously a lot of work being done around the property and while the private hot pools are pretty basic they were free with the unit and had no time limit. The camping area looked pretty bare but the campground hot pool looked inviting. We would stop there again .. maybe in the van next time.

Reviewed about 7 years ago

McLeans Recreation Area is a large, rather damp (in Autumn/Winter) roadside / riverside reserve with heaps of room for campers, tents and caravans.

In the reviews there are a lot of negative comments about the toilets but if all of those staying are self-contained that should not be an issue. There were several people "camping" in their cars during our brief stay.. Note: there is a conflict of comments relating to the Rankers Introduction screen vs the "Overnight Stay Rules" tab.. one says Self-Contained only & the other says Any Camping is permissible.

There is no tap-water supply here but the river is clean enough to fill a solar shower or be heated in a pot for dish-washing. There was noisy traffic during the day but it was fairly quiet at night. We would stay there again.

Reviewed about 7 years ago and experienced in April 2017

I walked into the dell prepared to be underwhelmed but found a really impressive glowworm display.

Regrettably the experience was spoiled a bit by the big crowd of visitors including those who left their LED headlights on all the time to shine in everyone else's eyes .. and the ones who took the flash photographs. The dell is definitely worth a visit but leave it as late as possible to avoid the crowds. By the way, the photograph that accompanies the Ranker's listing for the glowworm dell shows the stars of the Southern Cross and the two pointers .. which are not actually glow-worms; unless some hyper intelligent worms are going astro-impersonations.

Reviewed over 7 years ago

Hans Bay is a very nice DOC camping area with several flattish areas on which to park or pitch a tent.

There are flush toilets and a water supply .. but we only found one water supply tap. The camping area is on the left hand side of the road shown in the photograph with a fairly steep sealed drive up from the road. We scraped the back end of the caravan going up the slope .. a longer caravan could find it a problem. Well worth a visit. I suspect the camp is very busy in the summer holidays.

Reviewed over 7 years ago

This site is shown as a camping area but is in fact an open gravel pit on the side of the Whataroa River with no facilities.

The directions are quite clear and it is easy to find but maybe because it doesn't look much like a campsite people don't realize they have arrived. This has got to be one of the ultimate wilderness campsites and on a nice day the views of Mt Cook to the south add majesty to the feeling of remoteness and isolation. A local farmer told me of the number of motorhomes he has towed with his tractor after they got stuck in the loose gravel of the riverside. DO NOT attempt to use this area if heavy rain is falling or predicted... the Whataroa is not a river to trifle with.

Reviewed over 7 years ago

A small camping area with a short gravel road and turn-around loop.

Quite a steep grade up from the site to the road with no level patch to wait for traffic. The river has a nice deep swimming hole and the water is clean but unlikely to be drinkable. Only downside was the traffic noise from the Nelson/Blenheim highway which carries a lot of heavy trucks in the early morning presumably heading to/from the Cook Strait Ferries. Popular stop off place but not as crammed as the Alfred Stream site about 1 km away on the main road.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Great walk through spectacular scenery ..

but not so good for leisure e-cycling. Tried riding from both ends but gave up after about 10 minutes from the Seddonville start. Easier riding in from Ngakawau but the long stretches of remaining wooden sleepers and rails make a judder-bar staircase that defeated us after about 40 minutes. Young, fit, gung-ho types of dedicated mountain bikes would find it easy .. especially if starting from the Seddonville end as the track is downhill all the way.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Helpful and friendly staff.

The camp is well set up with good graveled pitches for motorhomes and plenty of sheltered grass areas for tenting. The communal areas are very functional and obviously the owners are working away at improvements and maintenance. Solid energy have built a magnificent sports complex including an indoor swimming pool about 5 minutes walk from the camp.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Excellent DOC campsite.

New toilet block with attached benches for food preparation & dishes. Cleaning and rubbish removal seem to be regular and effective. A lot of interesting walks around the campsite and safe mine tunnels (accessible from the road) about 1 km south of the site. The campsite is a logical stop-off point for people driving from Canterbury / Arthurs Pass to the Coast and in the summer holiday season the camp was quite busy with a lot of car-campers arriving in the late afternoon. The camping space is not huge and in wet weather many of the grassy tent sites become too boggy for use.

Reviewed almost 8 years ago

Great campsite.

There are parking bays along the bush edge and more open flats on the opposite side of the track. Longdrop toilets were well maintained and quite clean. The only down-side is the camp water supply which had live aquatic insect larvae coming out of the taps. The water in the main Maruia River looked cleaner. Highly recommend the walk in to Lake Daniels but walkers need to remember that it is an alpine environment and go prepared for a sudden change in the weather.

Reviewed about 8 years ago

A nice place for a short stay even in the middle of winter when the sun reaches the bay from about 9.00 am to 2.00 pm.

A bit damp underfoot for tenting, Yes, the swampy bush pongs a bit but the toilet is okay for what it is. If you're disturbed by trains in the night or heavy traffic noise you'd probably be better off paying to stay somewhere else. Gave 7 / 10

Returned in February of 2016 On a hot summers Saturday

Over 30 vehicles camped in the reserve with some people parking up & tenting in the centre of the circle. A few tents pitched in odd gaps between the crowd of non-self-contained people-movers. The toilet was too disgusting to enter and someone had used bags of their empty booze bottles to prop open the door .. presumably to let the place air out. Clearly camping "free" has its downside in the height of the holiday season. Gave 3 / 10

Reviewed over 8 years ago

During the New Year Holiday period there were over two dozen different family groups camping here and there was still room for more.

The setting of the camp is lovely with excellent bush walks starting & finishing from the grounds. The recently completed Ghost Road cycle and tramping route terminates in the grounds next to a beautifully constructed sandfly-proof shelter. For an area with this level of popularity the two old-style "long-drop" toilets are inadequate. If DOC update the facilities I'd rate my experience 10/10

Reviewed almost 9 years ago

Lovely camping spot, well maintained and very tidy.

Plenty of scope for tenters and some amazingly well built fireplaces including a pizza oven! Flush toilets and separate "parking bays" for vans. An open sided rain shelter would be a worthwhile addition. Sandflies are a given on the West Coast, get used to them or go somewhere else.

Reviewed almost 9 years ago

I first stopped at Quinneys bush back in 1970 as a day visitor and finally got to stay as a camper 45 years later.

Excellent facilities with a genuine family atmosphere. We were there at Easter and many of the daily programmed fun activities were operating for the children. A great place to take children where they can explore some old fashioned playing away from wi-fi and the internet.

Reviewed over 8 years ago and experienced in April 2015