Source: NZ Department of Conservation
Date: 24 September 2025
This car park in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park provides access to several popular day and overnight walks such as Hooker Valley Track, Kea Point Track, and to Mueller and Hooker huts. The White Horse Hill Campground next to the carpark is DOC’s most visited campground.
The proposal for the site includes some signage upgrades in the existing car park to help improve the flow of traffic and to facilitate people finding a parking space.
DOC Director of Heritage and Visitors Catherine Wilson says, “By paying for parking at these popular locations, visitors are contributing to the facilities and nature they’re enjoying.”
The local community and stakeholders provided input during the submission process on paid parking earlier in the year.
DOC is now looking for feedback on the pricing proposal and invites people to a drop-in session at the DOC office at Aoraki on 29 September from 2 pm to 3 pm.
“We think the pricing proposal is fair and reasonable. It responds to calls for an initial free period, special consideration for locals, and a reasonable fee for visitors.
“It is designed to be simple and easy to understand and provide different fee options for different users of the car park,” says Catherine Wilson.
The pricing proposal includes:
- Free parking period for 20 minutes to allow for drop-offs/pick-ups or short stops
- Hourly rate of $5 per hour
- Daily rate of $25 per day
- Annual pass for locals (within Mackenzie District boundaries) of $10 per year, which allows for unlimited access during the year
- Annual pass for other regular visitors for $60 per year
- Concession-holding tourism operators will be able to apply for a parking fee exemption during the pilot, allowing DOC time to assess how parking and the proposed access charges at some sites align with Crown activity fees.
The paid parking pilot is planned to start in December 2025 and continue until the end of June 2026. Paid parking will also be introduced at Dolomite Point in Punakaiki and Franz Josef.
Payment machines will be installed at the sites and cameras will record the entry and exit of vehicles. The company providing paid parking hardware will issue breach notices to vehicles for non-payment.
DOC’s estimated combined revenue from all three paid parking pilots is approximately $1.5million over the 7-month pilot period (December 2025 to June 2026).
“Legislation allows us to charge people fair and reasonable fees to use our facilities, which include campsites, huts and car parks,” says Catherine.
“This is standard practice at many national parks overseas. Most international visitors accept this as a necessary contribution to support the amazing nature they come to New Zealand to enjoy.”
Once the pilot is complete including a review of the results, a decision will be made whether to continue with paid parking at the three sites, and if it should be extended to other busy sites.
For more information visit DOC’s website: Paid parking pilot programme
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