Southland Region Parks
Southland is home to New Zealand's greatest wilderness region, Fiordland, the newest national park, Rakiura, and some of the rarest and most endangered native birds, including kakapo and takahe.
- Fiordland National Park
A World Heritage Area and New Zealand's largest area of natural wilderness, Fiordland embraces over 1.2 million hectares of glaciated mountains, fiord-indented coastline, lakes, rivers, and forests. Many thousands of people visit Fiordland each year, and activities run the full gamut of outdoor experiences. Most popular are cruises on Milford and Doubtful Sounds and Lake Te Anau, and hiking (the Milford Track and Kepler Track are Great Walks). Other pursuits include sea (fiord) and lake kayaking, snow and rock climbing, short walks, hunting (introduced deer), fishing (introduced trout), scenic flights, mountain biking and natural heritage tours.
- Rakiura National Park
Rakiura National Park protects most of Stewart Island, New Zealand's third largest island and one of the largest unspoilt forested islands in the world. Dense rainforests, wetlands, dunelands, granite mountains, alpine herbfields, off shore islands, inlets and sprawling beaches offer habitats for a large number of rare plants and endangered wildlife. Birdlife is prolific. Rakiura is one of the most likely places to see the normally nocturnal kiwi in the wild and island nature reserves are predator free sanctuaries to some of New Zealand’s rarest wildlife. One which is open to the public is Ulva Island. Rakiura is a stunning location to experience primeval New Zealand, be it by hiking (over 200km of park tracks include remote-experience tracks, a northern coastal circuit and Rakiura Track, which is a Great Walk), sea kayaking, short walks and guided nature tours (including kiwi spotting). Hunting is also popular, for introduced deer.