Craigieburn Forest Park

Craigieburn Forest Park sprawls over the broad slopes of this eastern foothills range of the Southern Alps, 1½ hours drive from Christchurch on State Highway 73. The park has a range of short walks, climbing, tramping, hunting and camping, all with excellent access roads.

A system of walking tracks crosses the park, with links to routes up the picturesque Harper, Ryton and Wilberforce valleys. If you are feeling energetic, most trips across the range can be finished in a weekend. The Cass-Lagoon Saddle Track is the most popular tramp. A two to three-day track traversing three river valleys and two saddles passes excellent huts and some grand views. Rock climbing is popular at Castle Hill, where immense limestone outcrops have been sculpted by the elements into weird and wonderful forms.

The Range is best known for four club ski fields, which are open to the public during the winter season. Mt Olympus on the western flank is a popular adventure playground with perfect powder slopes. Craigieburn has superb extreme downhill skiing. Broken River has three powder-filled basins and uncrowded slopes, and Mt Cheeseman has uninterrupted views along the entire range.

This park will keep you entertained every season of the year.