Things to do in Hanmer Springs

The Hanmer Springs thermal pools and spa

The springs were recorded by William Jones in 1859: seven round pools, some warm, some close to boiling. The government reserved the land a year later and began building a bath house in 1884, and the village grew around it as a health resort. Queen Mary Hospital, set up in 1916 for soldiers coming home from the First World War, later became a treatment centre for alcohol and drug dependency and closed in 2003. The pools themselves have been rebuilt many times since.

Today Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa is a large complex in the middle of the village, with a range of thermal pools from about 28 to 42°C, rock pools and sulphur pools, freshwater pools and hydroslides for children, a quieter adult area, and a day spa. The water is geothermally heated mineral water; the sulphur pools smell faintly, the rest do not. It is at its best on a cold, clear evening, with steam coming off the water and the mountains dark around you. Entry to the pools is included on 1 of our itineraries.

Things to do in Hanmer Springs besides the pools

• Forest walks: the hills above the village were planted with exotic trees from 1902, much of it by prison labour, and the Hanmer Forest is now crossed by easy tracks among big old conifers and native beech. The Heritage Forest walk is flat and close to town.
• Conical Hill: a zigzag climb from the end of the main street to a lookout over the basin, about an hour to an hour and a half for the loop. The best short walk in Hanmer and the one to do if you do only one.
• Dog Stream Waterfall: a half day walk through mountain beech to a 41 m waterfall, about three hours return from the top of McIntyres Road, with stairways and some narrow sidles.
• Jet boating and bungy on the Waiau: operators run jet boat rides through the Waiau Gorge and a bungy from the Waiau Ferry Bridge, the 1887 heritage bridge you cross on the way in. Jet boating is on 3 of our itineraries.
• Mountain biking: a large network of trails in the forest, from gentle family loops to steep downhill, with bike hire in the village. The St James Cycle Trail, one of the New Zealand Great Rides, starts in the high country north of town.
• Skiing: in winter, Hanmer Springs Ski Area and Mt Lyford are small, friendly fields within reach of the village. Neither will detain a keen skier for more than a day or two.

How to get to Hanmer Springs

From Christchurch the road runs north on State Highway 1 through the Waipara wine valley, then inland on State Highway 7 through farmland to Culverden and across the Waiau Ferry Bridge, and up the short spur road to the village. It is about 130 km and an hour and three quarters, an easy drive all the way. Our Christchurch page covers the city end.

The Inland Kaikōura Road is the way most of our itineraries come, and it is a good drive: hill country, the Seaward Kaikōura Range to the north and the long one-lane bridge over the Waiau Uwha River at Waiau. Heading west, the Lewis Pass is the quietest of the three road crossings of the Southern Alps, with beech forest most of the way and very little traffic. For both routes, fill up before you leave. In winter the Lewis Pass can have snow and ice, so check the NZ Transport Agency journey planner before you set out.

Is Hanmer Springs worth it, and how long to stay

It is worth it if you are passing, and one night is right for most people: arrive mid-afternoon, walk up Conical Hill, have dinner and an evening in the pools, and leave after breakfast. That is what the 3 of our itineraries that stay do, each for one night. It is a good reset after a long run of driving, and families with children do well here, because the pools and the forest keep everyone happy.

It is less worth a special detour from Christchurch if you are short of time. The round trip is three and a half hours of driving for a swim, and if hot pools are the aim, Lake Tekapo has them too, on the way to Aoraki / Mount Cook. Our guide to New Zealand's hot springs compares Hanmer with Rotorua, Tekapo and the free natural pools. If you are coming from Kaikōura, though, Hanmer costs you an hour at most over the coast road to Christchurch, and we would take it every time. See the Kaikōura page for the other end of the inland road.

Hanmer Springs weather and when to go

Hanmer has an inland climate, more extreme than the coast. Summers are warm and dry, with around 50 days a year over 25°C, and the village is at its busiest over the Christmas and January holidays. Winters are cold: there are over a hundred frosts a year and snow on the hills around the basin, sometimes in the village itself. Rainfall is moderate, around 1,000 mm a year. Autumn is the season we like best, when the planted forest turns gold and red and the days are still, clear and mild.

Winter is a good time to come, not a bad one. The pools are at their most welcome on a frosty night, the ski fields are open, and outside school holidays the village is quiet. Pack warm layers for the evenings in any season; at 338 m in a mountain basin, even summer nights can be cool.

Where to stay in Hanmer Springs

For a village this size there is plenty of choice: motels and motor lodges along the main roads, a few hotels and lodges, holiday parks, and a large number of holiday homes, many of them Christchurch families' weekend places, let out when the owners are not using them. Almost everything is within walking distance of the pools. Prices climb and rooms fill on long weekends and in the school holidays, when half of Canterbury seems to be here, so book ahead then. On weekdays in the off season you can usually find something on the day.

Our itineraries that stop here leave room in the plan for the pools and a walk rather than a packed programme. To see them, browse the Hanmer Springs tours.