The Abel Tasman Coastal Track is one of the Department of Conservation’s eight identified Great Walks and the only coast track of its kind in the country.
The park blankets the northern end of a range of marble and limestone hills extending from Kahurangi National Park; its interior is honeycombed with caves and potholes.
Along with its bays, lagoons and sparkling beaches, the park contains marble gorges and a spectacular system of caves in it surged interior.
Its northern coastline, running westward from the township of Marahau, consist of tree-covered headlands and islets separated by bays with golden sand beaches.
Abel Tasman National Park is one of the most beautiful, rising to a maximum altitude of just 1156m, protecting 23,000 ha of some of the finest coastal scenery and beaches in the country.
The park is characterized by regenerating scrublands and lush coastal broadleaved forest with vines, perching plants, tree ferns and an abundance of the country’s national plant, the silver fern.
It was opened in 1942 after the tireless efforts of conservationist and resident Perrine Moncrieff; it was named after the Dutch navigator Able Tasman who first sighted New Zealand in 1642.
Abel Tasman National Park
