Mount Aspiring National Park is located in the Southern Alps of the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, north of Fiordland National Park

Fiordland National Park

Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest of the 14 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of 12,500 km², and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site...

, and between Otago

Otago

Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...

 and south Westland

West Coast, New Zealand

The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...

. The park forms part of the Te Wahipounamu

Te Wahipounamu

Te Wāhipounamu is a World Heritage site in the south west corner of the South Island of New Zealand.Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990 and covering 26,000 km², the site incorporates several National Parks:...

 World Heritage site.

Geography

It was established in 1964 as New Zealand's tenth National Park

National park

A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

. The park covers 3,555 km² at the southern end of the Southern Alps

Southern Alps

The Southern Alps is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the island's western side...

, directly to the west of Lake Wanaka

Lake Wanaka

Lake Wanaka is located in the Otago region of New Zealand, at an altitude of 300 metres. Covering an area of , it is New Zealand's fourth largest lake, and estimated to be more than deep...

, and is popular for tramping, walking and mountaineering

Mountaineering

Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

. Mount Aspiring / Tititea (3033 m) is the mountain which gives the park its name. Other prominent peaks within the park include Mount Pollux (2542 m) and Mount Brewster (2519 m).

The Haast Pass

Haast Pass

Haast Pass is a mountain pass in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand. It is named for Julius von Haast, a 19th century explorer who was also geologist for the Provincial government of Canterbury...

, one of the three principal road routes across the Southern Alps, is found in the north-eastern corner of the park.

Landsborough Station added

In April 2005 the Nature Heritage Fund

Nature Heritage Fund

The Nature Heritage Fund is a New Zealand Government funding body set up in 1990 for the purchase of land which has significant ecological or landscape features.It is administered by the Department of Conservation...

 purchased private land in the Landsborough River

Landsborough River

The Landsborough River is located in New Zealand's South Island. A major tributary of the Haast River, it flows southwest, parallel with the Southern Alps, for 50 kilometres from its source five kilometres north of Mount Hopkins to meet the Haast 12 kilometres below the Haast Pass.In April 2005 the...

 valley as an addition to the park.

Milford Sound tunnel proposal

In 2006, the Milford Dart Company asked the Department of Conservation to amend the Mt Aspiring National Park Management Plan to allow an additional road within the park for a bus tunnel from the Routeburn Road to the Hollyford Valley to take tourists to Milford Sound.

In December 2007, the New Zealand Conservation Authority declined to adopt the amendment to the Management Plan. The Conservation Authority considered the proposed road would not add to the use and enjoyment of Mount Aspiring National Park and that the adverse effects of construction and use of the road in the National Park would outweigh any benefits.

Tramping/hiking

Popular tramping tracks in the park include:

• Gillespie Pass circuit
• Matukituki Valley
• Routeburn Track
  Routeburn Track
  The Routeburn Track is a world-renowned tramping track found in the South Island of New Zealand. The track is usually completed by starting on the Queenstown side of the Southern Alps, at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, and finishing on the Te Anau side, at the Divide, several kilometres from...
  
  
• Rees-Dart circuit

Mining

In 2009 the National

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

-led government of New Zealand has indicated that Mount Aspiring National Park may be opened up to mining. Around 20% of the total area of the park, mainly in the western portions around the Red Hill Range, and the north eastern parts could be removed from the park and mined. Prospectors here are particularly interested in carbonatite

Carbonatite

Carbonatites are intrusive or extrusive igneous rocks defined by mineralogic composition consisting of greater than 50 percent carbonate minerals. Carbonatites may be confused with marble, and may require geochemical verification....

 deposits including Rare earth element

Rare earth element

As defined by IUPAC, rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a set of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, specifically the fifteen lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium...

s and tungsten

Tungsten

Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...

. The Green Party has warned that the park is one of New Zealand's main tourism drawcards, and that mining here could do significant damage to the country's image.

See also

• Tramping in New Zealand
  Tramping in New Zealand
  Tramping, known elsewhere as hiking or bushwalking, is a popular activity in New Zealand.Tramping is defined as a recreational activity involving walking over rough country carrying all the required food and equipment...
  
  
• Tourism in New Zealand
  Tourism in New Zealand
  Tourism is an important industry in New Zealand, contributing NZ$15 billion of the country's gross domestic product in 2010. It is also New Zealand's largest export industry, with about 2.4 million international tourists visiting per year , providing 18% of the country's export earnings...
  
  

External links

• Mount Aspiring National Park (Department of Conservation webpage)