The West Oxford Reserve (AKA The Eyre River) is a flat parking and picnic spot just outside of Oxford.

It has no facilities and no water supply but is kept tidy and is well cared for with tree plantings and picnic tables. The Inland Scenic road marks one boundary of the site and traffic is often heavy .. especially at weekends. Large trucks and milk-tankers rumble past in the night. This is a useful and fairly attractive free stopover on the way to somewhere else. The Eyre river is usually bone dry and is frequented by 4x4 cowboys. A lot of people use the reserve for walking their dogs .. there are no poop bins .. beware.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in October 2019

This is really just a roadside picnic area with an interesting display board and some mining relics.

It has a large grass area and some trees but it is right next to a bend in the road. There are no facilities at all so if you are not fully self contained expect a visit from some of the nearby neighbouring farmers.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in January 2019

A small and uneven camping area with a lot of patronage in the summer holiday season.

The access road is gravel, narrow, steep and winding with several potential bottlenecks for opposing traffic. Facilities are well maintained although stretched in a crowd. Vanners are discouraged from filling water containers and there are no facilities for dumping grey or black water. Easy access to the sea for a dinghy or kayak. $2 showers. Lots of walks from the bay and a very safe swimming beach (with stingrays). Campers also need to beware of losing small items to the persistent wekas.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in January 2018

The McKee Memorial Reserve camping ground is pretty much the size of a full-on "motor camp" without the expensive facilities and entertainments.

The grounds are huge and camping spots are unmarked and very much first-come first-served. There are several blocks of flush toilets that are functional and clean but in the crowded week leading up to Christmas there was a queue in the early morning. For those of us who are self contained there is a good dump-station on the site. The custodian was very friendly. McKee's is a brilliant example of the type of no-frills budget-friendly camp that ought to make freedom-c..pp..g unnecessary.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in December 2017

White's bay camping is very quiet in the off-season.

There are two official camping areas that were closed off in winter but there is adequate space for camping in the loop around the historic telegraph cottage close to the beach. Apart from a couple of firm gravel patches next to the toilet block the available grassy spaces are very soft and muddy. The toilet facilities are excellent and very well maintained. Apart from the attractions of a beach and a short bush walk to the gloworms there is not a lot to do at White's Bay.

The road from Rarangi is very steep and narrow in places. Caravans and larger motorhomes could find it a challenging drive in strong winds from the south.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in August 2017

The Lake Mahinapua campsite has a beautiful setting close to the edge of the lake with a one-way road in and another leading out through thick bush.

Given a clear morning the sunrise over the lake is superb. The main camping area is a large grassed circle that gets chewed up by the wheels of heavy vehicles in wet weather making deep ruts and mud. A smaller camping area nearby is shaded for the first half of the day by a steep bush covered hill. There are clean flush-toilets and a space to hang a solar-shower as well as a separate covered space for dish washing and possibly food preparation out of the rain. Freshwater and rubbish / recycling are available onsite. A shallow concrete slipway next to the campsite gives easy lake access for small boats & kayaks. Close to the campsite there are a couple of easy bush walks and it is possible to get onto the West Coast cycle trail from the campsite but making this connection requires a couple of kilometres of main-road riding. The camp is very popular and the only downside is the relatively high cost for a DOC site.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in April 2017

I walked into the dell prepared to be underwhelmed but found a really impressive glowworm display.

Regrettably the experience was spoiled a bit by the big crowd of visitors including those who left their LED headlights on all the time to shine in everyone else's eyes .. and the ones who took the flash photographs. The dell is definitely worth a visit but leave it as late as possible to avoid the crowds. By the way, the photograph that accompanies the Ranker's listing for the glowworm dell shows the stars of the Southern Cross and the two pointers .. which are not actually glow-worms; unless some hyper intelligent worms are going astro-impersonations.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in April 2017

McLeans Recreation Area is a large, rather damp (in Autumn/Winter) roadside / riverside reserve with heaps of room for campers, tents and caravans.

In the reviews there are a lot of negative comments about the toilets but if all of those staying are self-contained that should not be an issue. There were several people "camping" in their cars during our brief stay.. Note: there is a conflict of comments relating to the Rankers Introduction screen vs the "Overnight Stay Rules" tab.. one says Self-Contained only & the other says Any Camping is permissible.

There is no tap-water supply here but the river is clean enough to fill a solar shower or be heated in a pot for dish-washing. There was noisy traffic during the day but it was fairly quiet at night. We would stay there again.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in April 2017

Marfell's Beach is obviously a popular camping site with a lot of people coming and going.

The beach is very exposed to northerly winds and away from the screen of stunted coastal trees it would be quite unpleasant in a tent. The summertime DOC custodian on site was very friendly and does a good job keeping the toilets clean. There are no showers but a cubicle space is provided for campers to hoist their solar showers for use. The campsite water supply seemed to be quite good but carries the usual warnings. I guess when the weather is good visitors manage to find creative ways of using the wide open beach. If the tide is low you could literally walk for miles.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in February 2017

We thoroughly recommend the walk from the camping area to the gun emplacements.

These were built at the start of WWII to prevent enemy navies using the outer Sounds as a base for attacks on Wellington and the size of the fortifications and their remote location (in 1939) make their construction amazing. The track has a short steep-ish section at both ends but most of it is level with great views up and down Queen Charlotte Sound. From the camping area to the first gun emplacement is about 40 minutes easy walking.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in January 2017

Helpful and friendly staff.

The camp is well set up with good graveled pitches for motorhomes and plenty of sheltered grass areas for tenting. The communal areas are very functional and obviously the owners are working away at improvements and maintenance. Solid energy have built a magnificent sports complex including an indoor swimming pool about 5 minutes walk from the camp.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in December 2016

Excellent DOC campsite.

New toilet block with attached benches for food preparation & dishes. Cleaning and rubbish removal seem to be regular and effective. A lot of interesting walks around the campsite and safe mine tunnels (accessible from the road) about 1 km south of the site. The campsite is a logical stop-off point for people driving from Canterbury / Arthurs Pass to the Coast and in the summer holiday season the camp was quite busy with a lot of car-campers arriving in the late afternoon. The camping space is not huge and in wet weather many of the grassy tent sites become too boggy for use.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in December 2016

We spent most of a day parked here after being blasted away from further up the coast by nor'west gales and torrential rain.

Found this place to be out of the (Westerly) wind and with firm off-road parking even in the rain. It is a popular spot judging by the number of vehicles staying there and when the rain eventually cleared we were able to empty our waste water and fill up with fresh. The dump station is one of the easiest I've used with the grey water drain almost at ground level. There is a lot of traffic movement over the nearby bridge and major intersection which would probably die down at night; and the town centre, Warehouse and supermarket are about 10 minutes walk away. We would go back and stay there.

And we did .. in April of 2017. Found it to be a very useful stopover with excellent access to the start of the Wilderness Cycle Trail as well as the shops of the Greymouth CBD. The only downside for camping is the freezing cold wind that often blows down the river and right through this site. The locals call it the "Brunner Barber" because it cuts like a razor. Also in April (and all of winter I guess) it takes a very long time for the sun to reach this spot so the solar panels struggled to deliver their rated power.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in December 2016

This is a lovely little campsite close to Wakefield.

Others have commented on how hard it is to find the site and I'd have to agree .. finding "the last (signposted) driveway on the left before crossing the bridge heading (Northwards) into Wakefield" is only part of the story because after turning off the highway there is a hard right-hand turn onto what is in fact the old main north road that then crosses the original wooden one-lane bridge to enter the reserve. The longdrops are okay and well maintained and the one tap on the back fenceline gives a good flow of clean water. There aren't a lot of camping areas and they are all grassy "bays". Our visit was in May after a lot of rain and much of the camping area was a sea of mud churned up by vehicles turning, backing and parking on the grass. Easy walks and bike rides around the reserve and about 5 minutes walk to the Wakefield restaurants.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in May 2016

A shady & quiet parking spot close to the Awatere River 13 km up the Awatere Valley (Molesworth) Road.

At the time of our visit the long-drop toilet was almost .. but not quite .. inaccessible because of a fallen tree. Plenty of evidence of the area having been used by campers whose understanding of the term "self contained " is limited to "bring-your-own toilet paper" and do your business wherever you like. .

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in February 2016

During the New Year Holiday period there were over two dozen different family groups camping here and there was still room for more.

The setting of the camp is lovely with excellent bush walks starting & finishing from the grounds. The recently completed Ghost Road cycle and tramping route terminates in the grounds next to a beautifully constructed sandfly-proof shelter. For an area with this level of popularity the two old-style "long-drop" toilets are inadequate. If DOC update the facilities I'd rate my experience 10/10

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in January 2016

I first stopped at Quinneys bush back in 1970 as a day visitor and finally got to stay as a camper 45 years later.

Excellent facilities with a genuine family atmosphere. We were there at Easter and many of the daily programmed fun activities were operating for the children. A great place to take children where they can explore some old fashioned playing away from wi-fi and the internet.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in April 2015