Mount Owen is in the

Tasman District Tasman District () is a local government district in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the Canterbury Region, West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City. It is administered by the Tasman District Council, ...

of the

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 ...

of New Zealand. It stands at 1875 metres (6150 feet) above sea level and is part of the Marino Mountains. There are a number of

caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

in the

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

areas on the flanks of the mountain, including New Zealand's longest cave system, Bulmer Cavern, which run for 64 kilometres. Mount Owen lies within

Kahurangi National Park Kahurangi National Park in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand is the second largest of the thirteen national parks of New Zealand. It was gazetted in 1996 and covers , ranging to near Golden Bay in the north. Much of what was the ...

. The

Hope Saddle Hope Saddle ( above sea level) is a saddle located south of Richmond, in the Hope Range of the northern South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other b ...

crosses its eastern flank. Mount Owen featured briefly in the first of ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy, ''

The Fellowship of the Ring ''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by ''The Two Towers'' and ''The Return of the King''. It takes place in the fiction ...

''. When the characters led by Aragorn leave Moria they emerge onto a rocky plateau. This was filmed on the slopes of Mount Owen. Mount Owen is best accessed via Granity Pass. This generally involves a two-day tramp staying overnight at Granity Pass Hut. It is possible to climb it in winter but care is needed over the

area due to snow hiding

sink holes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

References

External links

Caving areas in New Zealand
Mountains of the Tasman District Kahurangi National Park {{Tasman-geo-stub