Arthur's Pass National Park

Founded in 1929, Arthur's Pass National Park is a national park in the northern center of New Zealand's South Island. It includes a 1145 km ² large area in the Southern Alps ( Southern Alps ). The altitude ranges up to ~ 2400 m. The park is located on historic route from Canterbury to the West Coast and is traversed today by the Highway State Highway 73, the giving of the name 920 m high Arthur's Pass leads.

The landscape of the park is characterized by high mountains, mountain rivers and deep canyons. It clearly shows the tracks left by the huge glaciers during the last ice age in it. On either side of the main ridge of the New Zealand Alps are very different habitats. As the forests on the east side consist almost exclusively of houses, prevails on the west side of mixed forest. Above the tree line you will find in front of a alpine vegetation. The Southern Alps form the park air limit: while in Otira on the west side of the mountains each year about 5000 mm fall precipitation are in Bealey on the east side "only" about 1500 mm (for comparison, in Berlin it is approximately 550 mm per year). The precipitation falls mainly from June to September as snow, where it can snow all year round in the higher elevations. The best-known species in Arthur's Pass National Park is the kea, a New Zealand parrot endemic in. Even New Zealand's only pure mountain bird, the rock panties ( Xenicus gilviventris ) occurs in the park.

First point of contact for visitors to the park is mostly Arthur 's Pass Village, which can also be reached by public transport. The village is the starting point of many hiking trails. For multi- day hikes through the mountains several simple huts in Arthur's Pass National Park available. In addition, the park with its 16 two-thousand is a traditional destination for climbers.