Our second largest national park, Kahurangi has a wonderfully diverse landscape and is home to many of the plant and animal species that make New Zealand unique. Much of the park is untracked wilderness, other areas are laced with a network of tracks that allow you to explore wild rivers, high plateaux, alpine herbfields and coastal palm forests. The Heaphy Track, a four to five day walking experience, is one of New Zealand's "great walks".
Kahurangi is a geologically complex area, and that's one of the reasons it was made a national park. Much of its rock is sedimentary, originally laid down in an ancient sea, then uplifted and scoured by glaciers. Other parts of the region are limestone or marble - there's an abundance of caves, bluffs, natural arches, sinkholes and water-worn outcrops. New Zealand's oldest fossil (540 million years old) was found in the park. Maori lived here from the 14th century, and the coast was used as road by those seeking pounamu (greenstone).
In the east, beech forest is dominant while to the west you will see podocarp forest with a rich understorey of ferns, vines and shrubs. On the coast, stands of nikau palms give the forest an almost tropical look. 80% of New Zealand's alpine species can be found in the high reaches of the park.
Several threatened species survive here, from the diminutive rock wren to the great spotted kiwi, one of New Zealand's largest birds. The park is also home to our largest cave spider and the smallest of our giant weta (a flightless insect a bit like a grasshopper). 20 species of carnivorous land snail (Powelliphanta) live in Kahurangi; they can sometimes be seen near limestone outcrops, though they tend to only come out on damp nights to feed on native worms that grow up to a metre long.
Motueka, Takaka, Karamea, Tapawera and Murchison are the park's gateway towns. Roads from all the gateway towns lead into carparks within the park and a network of tracks.