Visitor information
Car park off Kennedys Bush Road.
Vehicle gates open 7.30am all year round.
Vehicle gates close:
- December–February: 9pm
- March–May: 7pm
- June–August: 6pm
- September–November: 8pm
Haswell Quarry Park brochure [PDF 1.38MB]
Things to consider:
- Lighting of fires is not permitted.
- Bicycles needs to be kept to the marked tracks.
- No camping is allowed in the carpark.
- Dogs can be off leash on valley floor in area shown on map, they must be on leash on other areas except the dog prohibited area. The Dog Control Policy - Map 18 - Halswell Quarry [PDF 4.4MB] has more information.
For organised groups or picnic bookings contact the Customer Call Centre, phone (03) 941 8999 .
Metroinfo has up to date bus information.
About the park
Halswell Quarry is a unique 60.4 hectare park, with an unusual combination of recreational walks, historic sites and botanical collections. Important historic buildings from the quarrymen’s days are being preserved and the once noisy rock face is now a quiet amphitheatre facing onto a parkland of short walks and wetland ponds.
Halswell Quarry also features six sister city gardens and a Canterbury botanical collection. Tracks, viewing points and three car parking areas have made the park increasingly popular for walking and other recreational activities over the last decade.
Halswell Quarry, which played a major role in the development of Christchurch, ceased production in 1990 after 140 years of quarrying. Its fine blue-grey stone can be seen in many of the city's prominent buildings including the Canterbury Museum and Provincial Council Buildings.
Sister Cities Gardens
The Sister Cities' Gardens millennium project was initiated as a result of the Christchurch City Botanic Gardens having no further space to develop. The plan was to develop an unimproved site into a botanical parkland featuring, initially, unique gardens designed to represent the character and beauty of gardens of Christchurch's six sister cities, and a Canterbury native plant garden.
Groundwork on the Sister Cities' Gardens started in early 1999, and the first trees were ceremoniously planted in June 1999. The official opening was 17 February 2001.
The individual gardens have been designed and landscaped after extensive consultation with each sister city and the plants within each garden are all natives of their respective regions.
Learn more about the Sister Cities on their website.
Wildlife
Birds sighted at Halswell Quarry Park include those that prefer bush habitat. These are likely to be found in the well-planted areas, especially the gardens with native trees. Others are those which prefer areas of open ground, which make use of the surrounding paddocks and the quarry itself. A number of wetland birds are also seen at the park, which may be attracted to the temporary waters on the site, but are not resident.
Although as yet no surveys have been done, there is likely to be an interesting range of invertebrates in the area because of the variety of habitats available. These range from wet farmland, through rock crevices, boulders and scree, to mature trees and gardens.
Plant life
Since 1989, blocks of native plants have been established in many areas at Halswell Quarry. There are also, scattered around the park mature rows of pines and eucalyptus as well as deciduous trees such as large walnuts.
More recently established areas are the Canterbury botanical collection, and the Sister Cities Gardens. The Canterbury botanical collection, as the name suggests, consists of local native plants. Exotic plantings are seen in the Sister Cities Gardens.
The original vegetation to cover this site, depending on habitat, was likely to have included tussock grassland and some small shrubs on the upper slopes, and flax, raupo, and sedges on the low flat ground where a large swamp would have existed. In some of the gullies or south-facing slopes ferns and taller plants such as cabbage trees, karamu, kahikatea, matai and matipo may have occurred.
Friends of Halswell Quarry Park
Friends of Halswell Quarry Park is a group with over 35 foundation members including local residents, Sister City committee members and Halswell Lions, who have all contributed to help establish the park. Groups such as this benefit the Council in bringing together various interested parties, promoting the values of the park, assisting rangers with its day-to-day care, as well as raising funds and helping to look after new plantings.
Friends of Halswell Quarry Park Contact
Dave Adamson, President
Friends of Halswell Quarry Park
36a Mackenzie Avenue
Christchurch 8023
Email: dacb@clear.net.nz
Phone/Fax: (03) 389 1376
Contact us
Halswell Quarry Park Ranger
Email: halswellquarryparkranger@ccc.govt.nz
