From ice-bound alps to intimate lowland forest, Mount Aspiring National park is a diverse world. Covering 355, 500 ha at the southern end of the Southern Alps, it is New Zealand's third largest national park after Fiordland and Kahurangi. Because of its size and location astride a glaciated alpine zone, Mount Aspiring is renowned for its large core of wilderness.

At the same time, the park lies invitingly close to the busy Southern Lakes tourist centres of Queenstown and Wanaka and provides them with a superb example of New Zealand mountain lands in largely unspoilt condition. In December 1990, the park was accorded World Heritage status for its natural values, forming the central part of the South-West New Zealand World Heritage Area (Te Wahipounamu).

Mount Aspiring National Park, covering about 200, 000 ha initially, was established in 1964 as New Zealand's 10th national park. The New Zealand Alpine Club played a leading role in the campaign for the park, and since then outdoor recreation and conservation organisations have successfully argued for various additions of range country and lowlands. These additions have increased the park's area by over 75 percent.

Few roads penetrate this wilderness park. The Haast Highway (SH 6) traverses the northern end for about 50km; in the south the Routeburn Road extends for 3 km into the park. Mount Aspiring, for which the park is named, is the pre-eminent peak of southern New Zealand. At 3033m, it rises like a four sided pyramid, the highest peak in the Alps outside the Mount Cook region, 125 km to the north.

"At the head of Hawea, about 40 miles distant is a very lofty conical peak which I call Aspiring"
J.T. Thompson, Surveyor,
on viewing Mount Aspiring from Mount Grandview near Lake Hawea, 1857.
Early Maori were also impressed by the shining white spire and named it Tititea - Glistening Peak.

For further reading: Land Aspiring is the story of Mt. Aspiring National Park, New Zealand: The National Parks contains a chapter on the park, and Classic Tramping in New Zealand contains three chapters covering the Makarora to East Matukituki, Cascade Saddle and Five Passes tramping routes, Queenstown to Milford Sound is a booklet which provides general information on the region. The popular tramping guide Moirs Guide North features the Mt. Aspiring area, as well as Westland and Routeburn. South Island Weekend Tramps covers two tramps in full detail.