Arthur's Pass National Park Visitor Centre — Attraction in South Island

Not overly impressed with the staff at the Visitor's Centre. They were friendly enough, just seemed incapable of providing useful information. We read online that the hike up to Carrington Hut could take anywhere from 4-6 hours. At the Visitor's Centre the employee told us it would take 7-8 hours. The discrepany is a little annoying for planning purposes as it's hard to know which source to trust. We ended up getting to Carrington Hut in 3.5 hours. Then we asked if they had any knowledge of the river levels - they didn't know. Seems odd that employees wouldn't have that info as it is important knowledge for hikers to have. Then we asked for clarification of the GPS coordinates for the hut. We had our topo map but were curious about the coordinates bc the ones we saw on the DOC description weren't formatted in a way we'd ever seen before. The employee's response: "I don't use a GPS in NZ". We weren't looking for a hand holding but were expecting the staff to be better equipped with...

Super nice staff saved my bacon yesturday. I had stayed the night at hawdon the night before and drove up to Arthur's for some small track adventures. Had my ignition on for a little long while having lunch in the car park at the visitor centre an my older car battery decided it was all too much and wouldnt start. After asking a dozen or so passer bys if they had jumper leads without success, I was getting worried. Then the awesome staff at the visitor centre lent me their portabke battery jumpstart pack. Hurray, it worked! On the way home I paid it forward and gave 2 Dutch trampers a hitch to their next location in chch. Karma is great if everyone helps each other. Cheers Dave and the team at Arthur's Pass visitors centre! Heath. Ps I also had my 6 year boy with me who was the most stoked when the car started again. A good lesson for him he will no doubt remember for the rest of his life (ie dobt trust dodgy dad and...

The Arthur's Pass National Park Visitor Centre is on State Highway 73 near the east end of the village. Opening hours are 8am to 5pm and there is a large carpark and public toilets available.

A stop at the Visitor Centre is a good opportunity to pick up information on trail and road conditions, local weather conditions and any other information needed to support your visit to the Arthur's Pass area.

You will also find an expected range of souvenirs and gifts here. There is an historic Cobb & Co stage coach and other interesting displays that make for a good way to spend 15-20 minutes. Lastly, there is a film you can watch regarding the history of Arthur's Pass. I believe the fee was NZ$2 per person for them to...