Ashley Rakahuri Regional Park

The Ashley Rakahuri Regional Park here in the Canterbury Region covers 417 hectares on the banks of the Ashley River / Rakahuri and the Okuku River. Environment Canterbury operates the park, which is used for fishing, walking, swimming, cycling, and family picnics.

This area includes pine forest blocks and mixed stands of exotic trees like willows and poplar, though pockets of native vegetation are being restored. The Ashley River is known for being steeper than other braided rivers in New Zealand, and it moves a lot of sediment.

The river has a history of flooding; in 1953, it breached its stopbanks near the Rangiora Traffic Bridge, causing significant damage in Rangiora, Kaiapoi, Woodend, and Waikuku. Since then, river engineering and protection work has been done to prevent similar events, and the land for this park was vested in Environment Canterbury to help protect that work. The first parts of the park officially opened on October 14, 2012.

There have been a few incidents here. In July 2020, Environment Canterbury cut down 500 trees without community consultation. Then in January 2021, a group of motorcyclists and four-wheel-drivers rode through a nesting colony of black-billed gulls, killing several of the rare birds. And in June 2021, parts of the park were closed because of flooding.

You can fish, swim, hunt game-birds, walk, cycle, and picnic here. Dogs are allowed, but they need to be kept under control. Gas barbecues are permitted away from vegetation, but there are no on-site barbecues, and all fires are banned.

The Mike Kean Walkway connects the State Highway 1 road bridge and the rail bridge. The Rakahuri Trail, which is a shared mountain biking and walking track, follows the river downstream from Groyne 1. There are also shorter single-track mountain bike trails branching off it. The main track is a two-way shared path with loose compact shingle, and it was extended in October 2017 to Waikuku Beach, doubling its length. The North Canterbury BMX Club also has tracks accessible off Milton Ave.

The most popular access points for the park are at the Rangiora/Ashley traffic bridge and the State Highway 1 bridge. You’ll find carparks on River Road, at the Ashley picnic site, Break Bank, the rail bridge, and the Rakahuri picnic area.