Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, looking east (ISS022-E-71548)

The Two Thumb Range (sometimes called the Two Thumbs Range) is a range of mountains 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. It is located to the east 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 ...

and has several peaks which rise to around .Two Thumb Range, Canterbury
NZTopoMap. Retrieved 22 January 2022. The southern end of the range contains one of Canterbury's main skifields,

Mount Dobson Mount Dobson is a ski resort in the South Island of New Zealand. Located 2.25 hours from Christchurch and 3 hours from Queenstown, it claims an easy access road, the highest car park of any ski resort in New Zealand, and the earliest start to t ...

Geography

An eastern spur of the

Southern Alps The Southern Alps (; officially Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana) is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern ...

, the Two Thumb Range runs in a predominantly north-south direction for approximately . It and the smaller, mostly parallel, Sibbald Range branch from the Southern Alps close to Mount D'Archaic, northeast of

Aoraki / Mount Cook Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. Its height, as of 2014, is listed as . It sits in the Southern Alps, the mountain range that runs the length of the South Island. A popular tourist destination, it is also a favourite ...

. The two ranges are separated by the valley of the Macauley River and form a barrier between the valleys of the

Godley River The Godley River is an alpine braided river flowing through Canterbury, in New Zealand's South Island. The river's headwaters are in Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park. It flows south for from the Southern Alps into the top end of the glacial Lak ...

and

to the west and the

Rangitata River The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for from the Southern Alps (New Zealand), Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean northeast of Timaru. The riv ...

to the east. The Two Thumb Range's peaks diminish in size towards its southern end, immediately to the east of the town of

, after which it splits into two less significant ranges, the Rollesby and Albury ranges. At the saddle between the Two Thumb Range and these ranges, State Highway 8 crosses

Burkes Pass Burkes Pass is a mountain pass and at its base, a small town on State Highway 8 at the entrance to the Mackenzie Country in South Canterbury, New Zealand. It is named after Michael John Burke (1812 Co. Galway-1869 Melbourne) a graduate of Du ...

on its route between Lake Tekapo and Fairlie. The South Opuha, Havelock, and Coal Rivers have their sources within the Two Thumb Range, as do numerous smaller watercourses, the most notable of which is Forest Creek, a tributary of the Rangitata River.

Peaks

Major peaks within the range include (from north to south): *Mount D'Archaic — *Mount Alma — *Mount Achilles — *Mount Myrmidon — *The Thumbs — *Captains Peak — *Mount Hope — *Mount Misery — *Dobson Peak — The names of several of the range's peaks, including Mount Achilles and Mount Graf Spee, commemorate New Zealand's involvement in the

Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commande ...

Recreation

Dobson Peak and its surrounding terrain are the home of the

Mount Dobson skifield Mount Dobson is a ski resort in the South Island of New Zealand. Located 2.25 hours from Christchurch and 3 hours from Queenstown, it claims an easy access road, the highest car park of any ski resort in New Zealand, and the earliest start to t ...

. The smaller

Roundhill Ski Area Roundhill Ski Area is a family owned and run ski area in Canterbury, New Zealand, in the Two Thumb Range near the town of Lake Tekapo, 1.5 hours from Timaru and 3 hours from both Christchurch & Queenstown. The main runs are accessed by a 1.2 kil ...

is also located within the range. New Zealand's major north-to-south walking track,

Te Araroa Trail Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) is New Zealand's long distance tramping route, stretching circa along the length of the country's two main islands from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Officially opened in 2011, it is made up of a mixture of previously made ...

, crosses the Rangitata River before following the valley of a tributary, Bush Stream, into the Two Thumb Range. It crosses the range at Stag Saddle — the trail's highest point at — immediately to the north of Mount Hope, before following the eastern shore of Lake Tekapo south.Two Thumb Track
" ''Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail'', updated 20 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.

In popular culture

The Two Thumb Range was the setting for

Desmond Bagley Desmond Bagley (29 October 1923 – 12 April 1983) was an English journalist and novelist known mainly for a series of bestselling thrillers. He and fellow British writers such as Hammond Innes and Alistair MacLean set conventions for the genre: ...

's 1975 novel, '' The Snow Tiger''.

References

{{coord, 43, 45, S, 170, 45, E, display=title Mountain ranges of Canterbury, New Zealand