Parks & Gardens in Auckland

The Auckland area has 22 regional parks, covering 37,038 hectares (91,484 acres) and more than 500km (310 miles) of walking tracks. The Auckland Domain, the city’s oldest park, is an imposing crown of green just minutes from the city center. Within it, the Wintergarden, the steamy Tropical House, and Fernz Fernery are botanical showcases for indigenous and exotic plant specimens. Admission is free. The Wintergarden is open daily from 9am to 4:30pm in winter, until 5:30pm in summer. There are also extensive formal gardens, sweeping lawns, statuary, duck ponds, sports grounds, and dozens of picnic spots. Summer Sundays bring free jazz and rock concerts in the band rotunda, chamber music in the Wintergarden, and megaconcerts on the sports fields. There are several well-signposted entrances to the Auckland Domain. Two of the busiest are on Stanley Street and Parnell Road. There are also entrances on Grafton Road and Park Road.

Epsom’s Cornwall Park (Auckland’s largest) is like the countryside in the middle of the city: There are sheep, stone walls, and lovely walks. In the middle of it is One Tree Hill, which should be called None Tree Hill, following a protesting Māori’s handiwork with an axe in 2000 (negotiations over a replacement tree are now finished, and it should be planted soon). The Cornwall Park Visitor Center (tel. 09/630-8485) has maps and information on walks. Access is via Greenlane Road, Manukau Road, or Campbell Road.

The Parnell Rose Garden and Dove-Myer Robinson Park (named after a popular former city mayor) are off Gladstone and Judges Bay roads in Parnell. One of the city’s first churches, little St. Stephen’s Chapel, is also here.

Auckland Botanic Gardens, 102 Hill Rd., Manurewa (tel. 09/267-1457), cover 64 hectares (158 acres). It's home to more than 10,000 plants. The gardens are open daily from 8am to 8pm in summer and 8am to 6pm in winter. The Visitor Centre is open during the summer Monday through Friday from 8am to 4:30pm, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm; Monday through Friday 8am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 4pm in winter. Guided tours by mini train cost NZ$4 adults and NZ$2 ages 3 to 13. Tickets can be purchased from the visitor center, with tours lasting 25 minutes.  .

Also worth a look are Eden Gardens, 24 Omana Ave., Mount Eden. (tel. 09/638-8395). They're open daily 9am to 4pm; the on-site cafe is open until 3pm. Admission is NZ$12 adults. Once a quarry, it is now a showplace for an amazing collection of rhododendron, vireya, hibiscus, bromeliads, palms, and many other subtropical species.