Parks
Queenstown Gardens, Earnslaw Park and the reserves around the bay — the free, flat, unbooked part of a Queenstown visit.
Not everything here has to be booked, driven to or jumped off. The parks and reserves around Queenstown Bay are free, flat and five minutes from the middle of town, and they are where locals go on a good afternoon.
The parks
- Queenstown Gardens — the peninsula park, with a flat loop track, heritage trees, 850 roses, disc golf and an ice rink. The best free thing to do in town.
- Earnslaw Park — the waterfront green in the middle of town, where the Saturday craft market sets up.
- The Village Green — the open space on Camp Street with Horne Creek through it, and the venue for a good share of the town's events.
- Rees Homestead Park — the small reserve on the site of William Gilbert Rees' second homestead, built by 1865.
Reserves worth knowing about
The council manages recreation reserves on Queenstown Hill and Ben Lomond, both of which can be closed in extreme fire conditions. Along the lake, the Frankton Arm walkway and the Sunshine Bay and Wilson Bay reserves give you flat shoreline access. Twelve Mile Delta on the Glenorchy road is a reserve with a campsite and no booking requirement.
Also worth knowing
Dogs need to be on a lead around the wetlands at Lake Hayes, where the crested grebe nest. Fires are banned across most reserves year-round. And for the rest of the no-cost options, see free things to do.
Queenstown Gardens
The peninsula park a ten-minute walk from the town centre: Douglas firs, 850 roses, disc golf, an ice rink and a flat loop track with the lake on both sides.
Earnslaw Park
The patch of grass on the Queenstown waterfront where the Saturday craft market sets up and the Winter Festival spills out. Small, central and free.
The Village Green
The open space in the middle of Queenstown, on Camp Street with Horne Creek running through it. Where the town's events set up.
Rees Homestead Park
A small lakeside reserve on the site of William Gilbert Rees' second homestead, with two trees and a laurel hedge left from its garden.
More in Places
See all
Towns
Arrowtown, Glenorchy, Gibbston, Wanaka, Kingston, Arthurs Point and Frankton — what each one is for, and how long it takes to get there.
Lakes
Lake Wakatipu and the smaller lakes around it — Moke, Hayes, Dispute, Johnson, Diamond. Where to walk, camp, fish and swim, and which ones are worth the gravel road.
Rivers
The Kawarau, Shotover, Dart and Rees: where the gold came from, where the jet boats and rafts run, and what the water does after rain.