Lake Tekapo Regional Park is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

in the

Canterbury Region Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current fo ...

of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. It covers at the eastern side of the southern end of

Lake Tekapo __NOTOC__ Lake Tekapo ( mi, Takapō) is the second-largest of three roughly parallel lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand (the others are Lake Pukaki and Lake Ohau). I ...

, east of the Lake Tekapo township. It is the newest of the four Canterbury regional parks managed by

Environment Canterbury Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's s ...

History

Pre-European history

Local Māori call the lake "Takapo" meaning "leave by night". According to oral history, the lake has a ''

taniwha In Māori mythology, taniwha () are large supernatural beings that live in deep pools in rivers, dark caves, or in the sea, especially in places with dangerous currents or deceptive breakers (giant waves). They may be considered highly respected ...

'' (monster), and the ''tohunga'' (spiritual leader) Hipa Te Maiharoa is the only person to have swum the lake and escaped it.

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim), Mount Mahanga and Kahurangi Poi ...

used the lake as a source for a source of

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

and a species of eel they call

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...

European settlement

Europeans settled the

Mackenzie Basin The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest suc ...

in the mid-1850s, establishing part of Tekapo Station at the site of the current regional park. In 1884, ethnologist Frederick Chapman reported the site had

moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refe ...

bones, but was otherwise ugly, uninviting and sandy. The station was divided between Mt Hay Station and Sawdwon Stations in 1948. In 1951, the completion of Lake Tekapo Dam submerged a homestead on the site. In 1957, fencing and tree planting of the area began to control soil erosion and drifting sands; the plantings were mostly Corsican, Lodgepole and

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

with some

European larch ''Larix decidua'', the European larch, is a species of larch native to the mountains of central Europe, in the Alps and Carpathian Mountains as well as the Pyrenees, with disjunct lowland populations in northern Poland and southern Lithuania. It ...

. In 1963, the area was vested as a Soil Conservation Reserve.

Regional park

Environment Canterbury took stewardship of the site in 1989. The Lake Tekapo Recreational Park Society was established in August 2008. It provides support the council in developing the park and coordinate volunteer activities, with funding from local businesses and organisations. In 2011, the society proposed the development of an area in the park for a caravan park. In 2019, the society called for a reduction to the main access road to the park due to a "rapid rise" in the number of people using the park.

Recreation

The park has 24 kilometres of mountain biking, cycling, walking and running tracks, graded for difficulty. There are extensive

conifers Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extan ...

, views of the lake and

Two Thumb Range The Two Thumb Range (sometimes called the Two Thumbs Range) is a range of mountains in the Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located to the east of Lake Tekapo and has several peaks which rise to around . ...

. There is an orienteering course, and cross-country skiing is also possible in winter. The park also features a fully fenced dog park, shallow swimming beaches, picnic tables and picnic spots, disc golf facilities, and a public toilet. There are no on-site barbecues and fires are banned, but people can bring their own enclosed barbecue and gas to use near the beach. Boats are allowed in the lake, but there is a 5 knot speed limit for paddle, sail and power craft in a designated area near the park.

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...

listed the park as one of the best dog-friendly destinations in New Zealand, while the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

listed it as one of the best autumn destinations. The

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

recommended a hike of the regional park as part of a New Zealand holiday. The park can be accessed via Lilybank Road, or on tracks from the Lake Tekapo township and Cowans Hill.

References

{{Protected areas of New Zealand Parks in Canterbury, New Zealand Regional parks of New Zealand Tourist attractions in Canterbury, New Zealand Protected areas of Canterbury, New Zealand