New Zealand's largest national park; it takes in Milford Sound, which Rudyard Kipling called the eighth wonder of the world
Area
12,500 km²
Protection category
IUCN II
Parque nacional —
Designated in
1952
Declared in 1952, it is New Zealand's largest national park and part of Te Wāhipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. Its glacial fiords, carved through successive ice ages over millions of years, include Milford Sound, which the writer Rudyard Kipling called the eighth wonder of the world after visiting in 1908. It takes some of the heaviest annual rainfall in New Zealand — over 6,000 mm in places — which feeds hundreds of temporary waterfalls that appear during and after each downpour, some of them vanishing altogether within hours of the rain stopping.
2 dive sites within 300 km are also shown.
Ecosystems found in New Zealand, where Fiordland lies.
Where can I dive near here?
93 km away
176 km away
What is worth looking out for this month in New Zealand?
Now is a good time: Resident sperm whales in the Kaikoura Canyon (Year-round)
Which other parks are like this one?
Same country: New Zealand
Same country: New Zealand
Same country: New Zealand
Same country: New Zealand
Based on what we already know about this park.
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Region
South Island
Climate
Tropical, Temperate, Mountain
Best season
December to February
Threatened:Southern Royal Albatross,Great White Shark,New Zealand Kaka,Kea,Southern Brown Kiwi,Great Spotted Kiwi,Weka,Hector's Dolphin,South Island Takahe
Endemic species of New Zealand:Kea,Hector's Dolphin,South Island Takahe
Least ConcernBlack-browed Albatross
Thalassarche melanophris
VulnerableSouthern Royal Albatross
Diomedea epomophora
Least ConcernSouthern Right Whale
Eubalaena australis
Least ConcernBottlenose Dolphin
Tursiops truncatus
Least ConcernKelp Gull
Larus dominicanus
VulnerableGreat White Shark
Carcharodon carcharias
EndangeredNew Zealand Kaka
Nestor meridionalis
EndangeredKea
Nestor notabilis
VulnerableSouthern Brown Kiwi
Apteryx australis
VulnerableGreat Spotted Kiwi
Apteryx haastii
Least ConcernNew Zealand Fur Seal
Arctocephalus forsteri
Near ThreatenedFiordland Penguin
Eudyptes pachyrhynchus