Mangaweka Campground
37 Rankers Reviews
Information
Mangaweka Campground
A riverside camping set on 3 levels with stunning Papa Cliffs, only 1km off SH1
Located between Rotorua and Wellington, Mangaweka Campground is a lovely riverside spot with 3 levels of camp options for everyone to enjoy. Conveniently 1km off SH1, this simple campground is a perfect choice if coming off the Wellington ferry or finishing the Tongariro Crossing.
The top level offers powered sites, paid hot showers, flush toilets and rustic cooking shelter, while non power tenting is available on all 3 levels.
All the water is good to drink. Use your payWave to get a 7min hot shower. First come first served basis, so no bookings.
The main office is located across the river at Awastone, please check in there first.
Want a bed for the night? There are 2 rustic style cabins for hire. The Pavilion, which is great for friends on a budget or big families combined to share, is a hut style accommodation with a full kitchen, you bring your own linen. The Bach is a small studio that looks out to the river. It includes linen for your convenience, has a small kitchenette and complimentary tea & coffee. Call now to book.
Want to add an activity? Fun rafting or kayaking adventures go daily during the summer, while off season can be booked by phone. Rafting the Rangitikei River is fun and safe for people of all ages, even children 3yrs can enjoy the "splash n giggle". Add a bit more adventure and go kayaking. No experience is required! Other activities at the doorstep of Awastone are gorgeous cycleways, walks from easy reserves to tramping through Ruahine Forest and world renowned trout fishing.
There is something for everyone in Mangaweka.
Details
| Feature | Value | Info |
|---|---|---|
|
Organisation |
Mangaweka Adventure CoCommercial organisation |
|
|
Location |
North Island ▷ Manawatu - Wanganui ▷ Mangaweka |
|
|
Categories |
|
|
|
Operating Season And Hours |
Open Year Round
|
|
|
Directions To Coordinates |
||
|
Coordinates |
Camping Grounds
Google Maps
Maps
Camping NZ NEW
Welcome to New Zealand's most comprehensive database of freely available camping information. This is the only travel map of its kind in NZ.
Reviews
-
-
Great riverside location -
Clean facilities
-
Hot showers with convenient payment
-
Friendly staff
-
Affordable price
-
Good stop off between lake Taupo and wellington.
Izzy -
A fantastic private park just by the river.
Rikke Petersen -
Lovely place for $10 pp in a self contained!
Vanessa -
Nice location near the river.
Patricia Erni -
Fantastic place, really tranquil.
RIchardS
-
Great riverside camping.
Amazing hot shower that takes pay wave inside the cubicle. Toilets are great too. Safe drinking water too.
Kitchen is a cook house style - bring your own gear but it's fully covered for rain or windy days.
You drive over the bridge (or walk once youre set up) to Awastone camp ground to register and pay.
Definitely can see more summer days here
-
Turned up here to break our journey to Wellington, we were not expecting much but it was a great site.
We were in a site with power in the main campsite. Great staff, clean and stunning location, all topped off by a raft ride the following morning by Owner - super
-
Loved this campsite.
Basic facilities but you can park right on the river and plenty of space. Swimming in the river and fires along the river edge at night. One the best of our trip, cafe in Awastone has great coffee too.
-
Considering the price it’s great!
Kitchen is useless but the amenities are brand new. Location is beautiful! Hot showers cost 4,5$ and you can pay by card in the shower. The showers can also be used if you are not camping there!
-
Lovely place for $10 pp in a self contained!
Right next to a lovely rushing river and extremely clean toilets/ $4.50 shower (can pay w/ pay wave) and kitchen facilities. I wish every $10 campsite was like this. They are doing it right.
-
Beautifull spot near the River.
Superclean toilet facilities. Check in at awestone Nice café with good food and friendly personeel.
-
Lovely but quite basic campsite - amazing views of the cliffs.
Showers were nice and hot - $4 though for 5 mins which is the most we paid for during our New Zealand trip.
Kitchen facilities were very basic - just a couple of sinks to wash dishes in but there was shelter if you wanted to cook under cover.
Overall would recommend - pretty decent campsite to stop at on way to Wellington.
-
Nice quiet location.
Got here quite late but rang ahead and were told that if we got there before the office closed to just go and pay in the morning. Lovely staff with clean toilet facilities. Didn’t use the shower but you can pay with pay wave in the shower block.
-
Beautiful camping site.
We stayed at the bottom of the camp ground to get the Papa cliff and river bank views. Fire are permitted on your campsite, first I’ve come across and it makes it a cool vibe. Kitchen is just a sink and bench top. Not the cleanest as there was graffiti and rocks on the benches. Toilets and showers are clean. $3 for a shower but have to get tokens at the Awastone site when paying for site.
They are building a new toilet block at the moment.
Would definitely camp there again
-
We arrived late at night, it was neat to wake up in the morning and see how pretty this camp is.
This is the bare bones versions of the 2 campgrounds, and the toilet block was fine for a night but I wouldn't recommend it for a longer stay. Showers require a $3 token from the camp office, but in the women's side only the first token works and then it jams - just something to be aware of.
-
We stayed at the Mangaweka Camping Ground, at the turn off on your right, just before the bridge.
We stayed two adults with our two dogs, on the riverbed, in non powered, and had $3 hot showers. It was a very magical place, swimming in the gentle rapids, surrounded by the jaw dropping cliffs. The toilets and cooking area were clean and the water is safe to drink from the cooking area. We had delicious margarita pizzas and beer for dinner from the cafe over the bridge at the other fancier campground. We will be back, thank you so much people of Awa.
-
Great campspot.
All but deserted during week in early December. Nice big river deep enough to swim and some rope swings across the river. Kayaking and rafting options across the bridge at Awastone. Fire pits, toilets, showers with token for hot water. Heaps of campsites including for self contained. Awesome spot.
-
Good stop off between lake Taupo and wellington.
This is the cheaper of the two sites, $9 for non powered site per person - must go to opposite campsite to pay for stay. $3 for hot shower but unfortunately hot shower wasn’t working when we were there. Standard toilet block. Running water. Kitchen to do washing up. Nice spot nearby river.
-
Beautiful quiet spot to park up right beside the river.
Basic amenities and camp fire allowed. Low fuss booking, friendly managers.
-
Only thing great about this place are that it is cheap and quiet.
Did not see any staff in 14hrs we were parked. Had to leave money in a drawer in an empty office.
What a shame you did not read where to find us if we did not find you, when you were in our small info office. We could have cleared any issues that may have occurred. Maybe you missed the river that was flowing past all sides of the camping area - sorry to hear you didn't like it!
-
Great riverside camping.
Amazing hot shower that takes pay wave inside the cubicle. Toilets are great too. Safe drinking water too.
Kitchen is a cook house style - bring your own gear but it's fully covered for rain or windy days.
You drive over the bridge (or walk once youre set up) to Awastone camp ground to register and pay.
Definitely can see more summer days here
-
Turned up here to break our journey to Wellington, we were not expecting much but it was a great site.
We were in a site with power in the main campsite. Great staff, clean and stunning location, all topped off by a raft ride the following morning by Owner - super
-
Loved this campsite.
Basic facilities but you can park right on the river and plenty of space. Swimming in the river and fires along the river edge at night. One the best of our trip, cafe in Awastone has great coffee too.
-
Considering the price it’s great!
Kitchen is useless but the amenities are brand new. Location is beautiful! Hot showers cost 4,5$ and you can pay by card in the shower. The showers can also be used if you are not camping there!
-
Lovely but quite basic campsite - amazing views of the cliffs.
Showers were nice and hot - $4 though for 5 mins which is the most we paid for during our New Zealand trip.
Kitchen facilities were very basic - just a couple of sinks to wash dishes in but there was shelter if you wanted to cook under cover.
Overall would recommend - pretty decent campsite to stop at on way to Wellington.
-
Lovely place for $10 pp in a self contained!
Right next to a lovely rushing river and extremely clean toilets/ $4.50 shower (can pay w/ pay wave) and kitchen facilities. I wish every $10 campsite was like this. They are doing it right.
-
Beautifull spot near the River.
Superclean toilet facilities. Check in at awestone Nice café with good food and friendly personeel.
-
Nice quiet location.
Got here quite late but rang ahead and were told that if we got there before the office closed to just go and pay in the morning. Lovely staff with clean toilet facilities. Didn’t use the shower but you can pay with pay wave in the shower block.
-
Beautiful camping site.
We stayed at the bottom of the camp ground to get the Papa cliff and river bank views. Fire are permitted on your campsite, first I’ve come across and it makes it a cool vibe. Kitchen is just a sink and bench top. Not the cleanest as there was graffiti and rocks on the benches. Toilets and showers are clean. $3 for a shower but have to get tokens at the Awastone site when paying for site.
They are building a new toilet block at the moment.
Would definitely camp there again
-
We arrived late at night, it was neat to wake up in the morning and see how pretty this camp is.
This is the bare bones versions of the 2 campgrounds, and the toilet block was fine for a night but I wouldn't recommend it for a longer stay. Showers require a $3 token from the camp office, but in the women's side only the first token works and then it jams - just something to be aware of.
-
We stayed at the Mangaweka Camping Ground, at the turn off on your right, just before the bridge.
We stayed two adults with our two dogs, on the riverbed, in non powered, and had $3 hot showers. It was a very magical place, swimming in the gentle rapids, surrounded by the jaw dropping cliffs. The toilets and cooking area were clean and the water is safe to drink from the cooking area. We had delicious margarita pizzas and beer for dinner from the cafe over the bridge at the other fancier campground. We will be back, thank you so much people of Awa.
-
Great campspot.
All but deserted during week in early December. Nice big river deep enough to swim and some rope swings across the river. Kayaking and rafting options across the bridge at Awastone. Fire pits, toilets, showers with token for hot water. Heaps of campsites including for self contained. Awesome spot.
-
Good stop off between lake Taupo and wellington.
This is the cheaper of the two sites, $9 for non powered site per person - must go to opposite campsite to pay for stay. $3 for hot shower but unfortunately hot shower wasn’t working when we were there. Standard toilet block. Running water. Kitchen to do washing up. Nice spot nearby river.
-
Beautiful quiet spot to park up right beside the river.
Basic amenities and camp fire allowed. Low fuss booking, friendly managers.
-
Absolutely wonderful campsite, great for the kids and the dog, awesome tent sites with easy access to all the amenities.
Showers and toilets were perfect, clean and tidy.
The only problem is six days was not long enough!! Definitely going for a fortnight next time. 😊
-
What a beautiful secluded place to stay.
We were travelling with dogs (not lap dogs either!) so found it hard to find a place that was suitable for them. This was the place. Right beside a river with a big field for them to run in, they had a great time. The only thing I would change is to allow bookings.
Many thanks for your review. Glad to hear you enjoyed your stay. Kind regards..
Tricia Eames
-
I think there is drinking water but actually don't remember anymore (5 weeks ago now).
There is cooking shed and toilets and water from tap where you can do dishes. So beautiful landscape with white mountain walls and a river with lots of stones. Epically beautiful. One of the best campsites. It has been bought by the more expensive campsite further in on the road past the bridge. They do not allow you to buy time in their showers so that's a bit weird but I reckon they are going to modernise Mangaweka Campground and after that start taking more in payment. So go there before this happens!
Many thanks for taking the time to review. The campground is a lovely spot by the river. The toilet and shower block upgrade is complete. Tokens are available to anyone who wants a hot shower..for purchase of $3 per shower at Awastone, our main office just over the bridge. Safe travels..
Tricia Eames
-
-
Awesome spot at the river with fireplace and hot showers.
Beautiful place to relax and watch the stars.
-
Great place to stay on your way from Wellington to Taupo (or vice-versa).
The owners (Trish and Paul) are wonderful and extremely helpful. Campground was very nice and kayaking trip with Paul was great - very knowledgable and friendly.