Kawatiri Campsite
Kawatiri area
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Kawatiri Campsite
Camp at the historic Kawatiri Railway Station site. Explore the old rail bridge, tunnel and station. A great place to walk, fish or picnic.
The Kawatiri Junction Camping Ground is handily placed near the main state highway and provides an ideal stop over between Nelson and the West Coast.
Lots of interesting railway bits and bobs are nearby and are very much worth small walk. Look for the old tunnel and rail bridge.
Make sure you have your sandfly repellent handy.
DOC Campsite Pricing
Kawatiri campsite is categorised as a DOC Standard Campsite. The following pricing indicates usual pricing. Prices vary for some campsites and may include seasonal pricing. Visit the DOC website for exact pricing.
DOC Standard Campsite
Standard campsites have a more limited range of facilities and services than Serviced campsites. These campsites have toilets, a water supply that could be treated or untreated tap water, or from a stream or lake, and vehicle or boat access. Bring your own soap for washing hands. Untreated water should be boiled before use to ensure it's safe. Wood BBQs and fireplaces, cold showers, picnic tables, a cooking shelter and rubbish bins may be provided; this will vary from site to site.
| Feature | Value | Value |
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| Unpowered Site | Adult | $10.00 to $15.00 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Child | $5.00 to $7.50 per night |
| Unpowered Site | Infant | $0.00 per night |
Adults are 18+ years, children are 5-17 years, infants are 0-4 years.
Details
| Feature | Value | Info |
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Organisation |
DOC MarlboroughCentral government organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ St Arnaud |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Basic Camping
Reviews
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3.5/5
This place was as advertised!
The toilets are usable and there’s a picnic table and some shaded areas. Not super nice but fine for a stopover.
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3.0/5
Nice place next to the river, good for a quick dip.
Unfortunately a lot of sandflies and smelly toilet and noisy traffic on the road during night as well.
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2.5/5
Lots of sand flies that bite.
Ok to stop for a night if needed but no facilities or redeeming features
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2.5/5
It’s OK to stay for a night if you need to stop.
There are a lot of sandflies and bugs. You hear a lot of traffic noise from the road that is next to it. You’ll get a good story at least (and not too many insect bites, hopefully….), and it’s good to support DOC of course.
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4.0/5
Great little pull off spot to camp for the night, next to a river so that’s cool.
Toilet available and lots of room for cars and vans. Would rate it higher if it weren’t for the crazy amount of sand flies, very annoying.
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3.5/5
For free and alright for one night.
There are just so many sandflies around and bees in the toilet.
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3.5/5
Right on the intersection of the buller gorger road and the road from Nelson but still quiet at night .Lots of bugs , and will do if you need to stop en route to somewhere else
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4.0/5
It's free and it's very handy so it's brilliant!
Nicer spots down by the river if you are lucky but otherwise close to the road and therefore a bit noisey. Probably more of a stop over than a destination but the river is lovely and the 20 minute loop walk is a great way to stretch your legs at the start or finish of your day on the road.
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4.5/5
Nice and clean, tables and walkway, could be a bit more away from the main road.
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3.5/5
This place was as advertised!
The toilets are usable and there’s a picnic table and some shaded areas. Not super nice but fine for a stopover.
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3.0/5
Nice place next to the river, good for a quick dip.
Unfortunately a lot of sandflies and smelly toilet and noisy traffic on the road during night as well.
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2.5/5
Lots of sand flies that bite.
Ok to stop for a night if needed but no facilities or redeeming features
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2.5/5
It’s OK to stay for a night if you need to stop.
There are a lot of sandflies and bugs. You hear a lot of traffic noise from the road that is next to it. You’ll get a good story at least (and not too many insect bites, hopefully….), and it’s good to support DOC of course.
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4.0/5
Great little pull off spot to camp for the night, next to a river so that’s cool.
Toilet available and lots of room for cars and vans. Would rate it higher if it weren’t for the crazy amount of sand flies, very annoying.
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1.0/5
Bees, bugs and engine brakes all night.
Scenic corner. Filthy toilets. Should not be a campground.
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0.5/5
This is a “no other choice stop” I reckon.
The bathroom were the worst we had throughout the trip, so smelly we felt sick and with the road next to it it’s not the best spot to sleep. If you can, avoid this campground we had free camps that were cleaner and nicer than this one.
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2.5/5
Just a place to pull over and get some sleep really...
The vehicles from the nearby highway didn't bother me, but be aware that big trucks pull in there too.
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0.5/5
Planned to stop here but the sandflies drove us away.
We tried a couple of different spots at the site, thinking that further from the water or bush would help...but it didnt. Several cars stopped to use the toilets during this time and we could see that they were being attached almost as soon as they were out of their vehicles.
I wouldnt recommend it unless you were desperate to stop somewhere and didnt want to be outside your vehicle.
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3.0/5
A convenient location at a junction of two highways, which makes a good stop if you need it!
Very noisy, to be expected. Pleasant surrounds though, with a nice grassy camping area and a toilet. There is no water supply other than the river, which is good for a swim :)
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3.0/5
Nicely maintained campground with the river as the water source.
The road made it a bit noisy at night.
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3.5/5
For free and alright for one night.
There are just so many sandflies around and bees in the toilet.
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2.5/5
It is really close to the road so loud, there is a lot of sandflies but it is free.
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1.5/5
Near the highway, so very noisy, toilets were full of sandflies and other mosquitoes.
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3.5/5
Right on the intersection of the buller gorger road and the road from Nelson but still quiet at night .Lots of bugs , and will do if you need to stop en route to somewhere else
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0.5/5
Crowded by aggressive sandflies.
Even the toilet was full of mosquitos-unusable! But a nice stream next to it.
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4.0/5
It's free and it's very handy so it's brilliant!
Nicer spots down by the river if you are lucky but otherwise close to the road and therefore a bit noisey. Probably more of a stop over than a destination but the river is lovely and the 20 minute loop walk is a great way to stretch your legs at the start or finish of your day on the road.
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1.5/5
For a free campsite this has to be the worst.
There were so many bees we did not even make dinner. We left the next morning with bees in the car!
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4.5/5
Nice and clean, tables and walkway, could be a bit more away from the main road.
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