Lake McGregor
Overnight Campervan Parking
Reviews
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Becci
Ranking: 9/10
$10 per person, really clean drop toilets and outdoor kitchen area with sink and water (not for drinking) great to do washing up. No issues with mosquitos or sandflies. Really nice quiet location and right next to Tekapo too!
Peter Rickard-Green
Ranking: 10/10
Amazing place. Quiet with lovely views. Basic facilities, and the hand water pumps are a charm, just don't drink the water!
Wolfgang
Ranking: 5/10
Nice place.
No showers. No paper in the toilets. The facilities were dirty and not maintained.
Do not mix it up with the Alexandriana campsite nearby.
Angela
Ranking: 7/10
Good location and alternative for accommodation close to lake Tekapo. We arrived around 9pm and nobody was there to man the gate but it’s $10 per person. Didn’t access the lake, we just stayed the night and went back to Tekapo. About a 10-15 minute drive
Sheri
Ranking: 10/10
Loved this little spot. Nice and cheap compared to other place. Away from the town. Has toilet but we didn’t use it and dishwashing facilities.
- beautiful scenery
- level grounds for your camper
- $10 p/person
- dam for fishing. Campers caught a salmon next to us. Shame it wasn’t us.
Libby
Ranking: 4/10
Nice place and view and 10-15 minutes to lake Tekapo but expensive for what it is. Had free campsites for better. No toilet paper or soup, not clean water.
Luis Vigil Vidal
Ranking: 2/10
The views and the place is nice! But charging $10 per person seems way too much for what you have here. Just an old and completely dirty toilet, water supply (which is brown, better don't use it). The environment is nice ...and if it was free camp it would be very good. But the DOC can not charge $10 for a camp that is completely unmaintained!! Also when you park, and then you pay at the honesty box you feel a bit like a fool when you use it because after a lot of people is just parking outside of the camp, not paying but coming in to use the facilities...it does not make any sense to then to pay! Better look for another option...but it could be hard because Lake Tekapo doesn’t look very free camp friendly!
Lauren Smith
Ranking: 9/10
Great spot - a lot of empty semi-permanent caravans taking up a lot of space, however plenty of space still available for overnight stays.
Facilities were great - cleanest long drops I’ve ever seen (remember to bring toilet roll/hand sanitiser). Need to pump water if you want to wash dishes.
Lovely and peaceful right next to Lake McG, great spot for stargazing!
$10pppn, about 15 mins past the turn off for Mt John Observatory.
Ambs
Ranking: 8/10
Lots of space, decent drop toilets just bring your own toilet paper. Beautiful spot right on the lake with a view of the mountains. 15 min drive to Tekapo, close to the Mt John Observatory. $10pp. Cooking benches, sinks with pump.
Easy to find.
Sam
Ranking: 3/10
Looks like a fairly nice campsite, but sign said closed for winter. Didn't mention this on the main road which is pretty anoying. Drove all the way out to find we couldn't camp. Just make sure you can actually camo there before you go.
Joe
Ranking: 3/10
It was 10$ per person, long drop toilet , there are two sinks, but it was needed pumping so uncomfortable. Totally not worth, if 5 dollars I would understand.
Michael S
Ranking: 7/10
Abgelegner Platz nach langer Schotterstraße direkt am Lake Mc Gregor. Alle Plätze haben seeblick. Begrenzte anzahl an Plätzen ca 30 Stück.
Toiletten war super dreckig, Wasser zum abwaschen vorhanden. Traumhafter Sternhimmel!
10 Dollar pro Person beim Ranger bezahlt.
Lucinda
Ranking: 7/10
Beautiful small lake , very quite and peaceful and best place for visiting Tekapo. Long drop toilets fine. Washing up area with hand pump and some picnics benches! Would definitely go again.
Megan Belanger
Ranking: 9/10
There are more than 5 sites here - more like 30. Toilets were excellent and the taps were good for washing dishes. There’s a place for rubbish, which is nice. The lake was beautiful and peaceful. Picnic benches and some grassy areas for eating on. It’s mostly just a parking lot with a nice lake side picnic area, but it’s cheap and ok for non self contained vehicles. Enjoyed our time here. Not many sandflies either.
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Emma
Ranking: 6/10
I think we ended up staying at the Lake McGregor camp. Whichever one is further on. Drove into the first and it appeared to be full. Available spaces between campers taken up by people setting up tables and chairs, spreading out across sites. So we drove on to the next one which also appeared full of semi-permanent vans with no one staying in them. There were directions to see the camp host but they were also away for the entire time we spent there. Some other campers encouraged us to stay, assuring us it was ok which was a relief. $5-10 p.p, p.n
As we drove out the next day we saw that campers had lined up all along the outside of the fence at the earlier campsite, so we could have stayed there after all. Drop toilets were fine
Jonas R.
Ranking: 4/10
Review for both camp sites as they are close together. Only affordable camp sites around since they ban freedom camping around here. Annoying since camp sites are both pretty bad, old facilities and few good spots to park your car but seems to be the only cheap places. Stayed one night out of necessity.
Lance
Ranking: 3/10
We didn’t stay here as we were self contained and found a few places on the road out to here. The lady in the I-site wasn’t very helpful but did point us to this site which we found a place to stay just before here.
Rachel
Ranking: 1/10
Drove to the site & saw sign saying it was closed for winter.
Further unwelcome signage means we will not be camping there in future.
Not at all helpful, as quite a drive from the main road.
Juliane
Ranking: 6/10
Nice place. More vehicles than I would have thought. 10pp (without power) little intoo expensive my opinion.
Clobby
Ranking: 6/10
Looked nice and quiet when we arrived, $10 per person seemed reasonable until it started to fill up and got busy. Some vans parked outside and didn’t pay but still used the sinks and toilets - which probably contributed to the smell and signs of overuse.
A word of warning if walking around the site is the use of snares, I found four discarded snare wires actually on the site and tripped over a set snare while walking around the lake. Rabbits and game trapping is allowed in NZ but not where people walk.
Luis Vigil Vidal
Ranking: 6/10
The camp itself is nice and with good views to the Lake McGregor. But for 10NZD per person (honesty box) the facilities are awful. Toilet is super dirty and very bad mantained. Brown water from
the tap. Lots of spaces. But you feel a bit stupid when you pay but then people just park outside, don’t pay and get into to use facilities without having paid! If free camp would be great, but for 10dollar per person it’s a robbery!
Aaria Toska
Ranking: 7/10
Costs $10 per person. Very basic but toilets were free of insects. There was space to set up you own cooker and pump water stations and bucket showers :-D.
That was all actually nice, but if there would have been a real alternative like a DOC site I would have preferred to stay elsewhere, as this was not worth the money. The site is a gravel pit, the nicer spaces are signed with "no camping" and there are caravans set-up long term which look not so great...
Water is only non potable.
Oceane Imber
Ranking: 10/10
Awesome campground to stay with clean toilets, a cabin to set up your own shower, access to water and a sink! The views were amazing and there is a nice little walk to do around the lake!
Mardi Oke
Ranking: 8/10
Good campsite near Lake Tekapo. Cost $20/person.
Care-taker was helpful and friendly. Toilets were reasonable. There's a space to wash dishes.
Terrific to walk around the Lake - took an hour or so.
If you choose to walk around the lake - when you get to the part where you walk along the road, there's another lake off in the distance on the other side of the road, with tracks to get to it. Another magic and solitary spot - only accessible by walking.
Jozef Pinkerton
Ranking: 8/10
Very basic. Good to have solid gravel parking spot especially when it snowed hard. Long drop toilets were smelly but otherwise was ok. Nice scenery and the night sky is amazing on a clear night.
Adam Yates
Ranking: 8/10
Facilities are what you may expect, drop loos which are fine, water available at pump but not potable and a few picnic tables around. The real reason anyone comes is the scenery and the nightscape, both of which are stunning. Great place, nice campers and all for $5.
Kelly Roxanne
Ranking: 8/10
Not to be confused with Lake Alexandrina campsite which we saw a sign to have to pay $20 for! Don't do it! Head to the end of the road and you should see a turn off for this camp instead for $5/pax. Less packed and thus better views of the smaller McGregor lake. The cleanest long drop toilet you'll ever see at a campsite -- it looks almost just like a flush toilet.. but without the flush. Pump sinks outside. No sandflies but there are midgies at night. We arrived at 5pm and personally find the views of the mountains and lake then most beatiful.
Roeland Driessen
Ranking: 9/10
Nice simple campsite. very cheap and beautiful location. If you have a self contained camper van it's even better to drive 1 km back to Lake Tekapo and stay here. This is a top-location. Toilets on campsite were clean.
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Xanthe Bowater
Ranking: 10/10
For 5$ per person this site had a million dollar view! One of our favourite spots for our trip. Access straight on to the lake and clean longdrop.
Adrian Soldati
Ranking: 9/10
Great place with a nice lake side position and at a low price! If you walk up to the surrounding hills you get a great view on both McGregor and Tekapo lakes. The final track of the road is unsealed but in good condition. Toilets are new, water available and differentiated trash bins for everything (+ for the environment). Sand flies present but not in great quantity and only during the evening and when eating. Come earlier if you want a place right near the lake.
Liam Greer
Ranking: 10/10
Awesome we place, I am a regular visitor and enjoy myself.
Jenny Adams
Ranking: 8/10
Despite the strange look about this site it was a perfect cheaper alternative to the ones in town. This is the first of the 2 campsites. There are permanent caravans there likely used by the local fisherman. We pulled up and there was one other couple staying just outside the fence, but by 6pm there were at least 15 campers who had arrived. A lovely man collects money, he is in one of these caravans so just head down to him and have a chat. He provided maps and local knowledge. You can swim in the lake too. Toilets were standard, perhaps a bit stinky, but as expected! Great overnight spot close to peninsula walk!
Howard Kestrel
Ranking: 7/10
Beautiful location, right on the banks of the lake. Lots of little spots so plenty of privacy. Lots of bugs.
Leslie Lindeman
Ranking: 7/10
Considering the alternatives in the area, this will do. If self contained, drive through the first area past the toilets and park next to nice gurgling stream, especially if as crowded as it was during our Saturday night visit.
Lucas Anderson
Ranking: 9/10
Bare essentials in terms of campsite setup but spectacular placement inside glacier carved valley between awesome peaks. An
Bertrand Rives
Ranking: 8/10
We stayed one night. It was very cold during winter but a very beautiful area in the morning. Be careful it is snowy sometimes.
Barbara
Ranking: 8/10
It was a camping ground run by the local community. It had a toilet and a sink for dishes. No running water though. A little hard to get there since the streets were not in great shape. Good for a night or two.
Sebastian Sanne
Ranking: 6/10
Okay, small spot. Not even in many places, and very dusty if windy.
Claude Nobs
Ranking: 6/10
Couldn't find the site in the night. So we pulled over where we thought it was and indeed saw a few trailers parked further down a very deeply muddy track not suitable for a safe drive for a campervan, so we camped just 10m next to the road. in the morning still couldn't find the campsite & the trailers seemed partly abandoned... But had an undisturbed freedom camp, but not sure if its actually allowed... Btw: if you want to see the stars, there are many as remote freedom camping sites in NZ equally dark. I doubt the view here being way more spectacular just because its close to 800 meters above sea level...
Charlee Jayne
Ranking: 8/10
There were two parts to this site, $5pp. We stayed at the first track to the right but if you keep heading down the road there is another place to stay at the end (but it was too muddy - and creepy).
The first turnoff takes you near the water, amazing dawn views of the mountains. There are toilets at this area as well. Its worth the drive if you want to avoid the paid campgrounds in Tekapo.
Mike Pisco
Ranking: 8/10
Very remote campsite past Lake Tekapo and Lake Alexandrina. Right on the lake with great mountain views. Toilets available, shower stalls to have a bucket shower. $5 per person.
Phil & Laura
Ranking: 9/10
A fabulous location with stunning views and very quiet. An open campsite with plenty of space for campervans, alongside Lake McGregor. Basic facilities in terms of loos, but close to Mount John, so very handy for the night visit to the observatory. We booked a visit and arranged with them to collect us at the road entrance to the observatory.