Access
Spencer Park is 14km north-east of Christchurch. The main access is off Heyders Road.
Metro info (external link)has up-to-date bus information.
Opening hours and gate times
Spencer and Seafield Parks:
- Daylight savings 8am to 9pm
- Rest of the year 8am to 7pm
- Ring Christchurch City Council on 0800 800 169 or 941 8999 to release locked in vehicles, at owner's expense.
Beach gates are closed at all times. You may obtain a permit and key to use these from the Spencer Park Ranger Office, located near the front of Spencer Park and shared with the Holiday Park office.
Dogs
Dogs must be on a leash at all times in Spencer Park because of the high number of visitors, including families as a picnic and recreation area.
Dogs must also be leashed on all formed tracks, paths, roads and car parks. This includes the Brooklands Lagoon Track, Waimakariri Walkway, Wetland Walk and Pine Forest Loop.
Dogs are prohibited from leaving the walkways around Brooklands Lagoon or Spit because of rare and threatened birdlife. Dogs are also prohibited on the dunes, foreshore and beach north of Heyders Road and from marked horse tracks.
Please be aware that summer dog rules are in place at Spencer Park Beach. From 1 November to 31 March, between 9am and 7pm, dogs are prohibited 100 metres north and south of the Surf Life Saving Club pavilion. If passing through, dogs must be on a short leash. Outside of these times dogs are permitted under effective control.
Play
Spencer Park has a children’s adventure playground, a paddling pool(external link), sandpit, sports courts, and many interesting short walks. Find out more about the park and what it has to offer in the Spencer Park and Brooklands Lagoon brochure [PDF, 1.1 MB].
Fish
Fishing and whitebaiting is popular but a permit and key must be obtained from the Spencer Beach Kiwi Holiday Park(external link) during office hours.
If driving a vehicle on the beach, please keep to the hard sand. Motorbikes, dune buggies and 4WD vehicles in the dunes damage plants, destroy wildlife and disturb nesting and roosting birds.
Camp
The Spencer Beach Top 10 Holiday Park(external link) is located right next Spencer Park and offers a wide range of accommodation. Visit the website to make a booking or enquiry.
Adventure
Brooklands Lagoon and the coastal path provide much longer walks and are especially interesting for bird-watching. Just south of the park there are plenty of horse and biking routes in Bottle Lake Forest Park.
Adrenalin Forest also operates in Spencer Park. Check the website(external link) for opening hours and fees.
Beach
The beach is a short walk or drive from the main park.
Safe swimming is between the flags at the Surf Life Saving Club in the summer months. Find out more(external link).
If you're looking for a sheltered, relaxing picnic spot with easy vehicle access and close to the beach, look no further than Spencer Park!
There are a number of great picnic spots and free barbeques in the park. While you can't book a barbeque, you can book a picnic space – each area can accommodate up to 50 people.
To help with making your booking you can:
- Read the terms and conditions [PDF, 44 KB]
- Take a look at the map below to choose your preferred spot.
When you are ready to check availability and make a booking, you can do this online.(external link)
Please be aware that if you are arranging a publicly advertised gathering of more than 50 people you may need an event permit.
Map showing bookable areas [PDF, 232 KB]
Spencer Park is a rubbish-free park. Please be a tidy kiwi and take your rubbish home with you.
An important link in a chain of wetlands running along the coast of central Canterbury, Brooklands Lagoon is situated just north of Spencer Park and is the focal point of a number of walks in the area.
The lagoon is an important wildlife area and home to countless insects, invertebrates, fish, native plants and over 112 recorded species of wetland birds. It is one of few remaining natural wetlands left in the country, now that more than 90% have been drained or destroyed.
The Lagoon
The southern lagoon is a wildlife refuge where the high tide only covers the mudflats between two and four hours a day. Extensive areas of saltmarsh, consisting of rushes, sedges and salt tolerant grasses, surround shallow ponds. This vegetation provides protection for insects and coastal skinks. The salt concentration in the water is usually very low offering suitable conditions for invertebrates such as tunnelling mud crabs, mudflat snails and rag worms. An observation platform, at the southern end of the lagoon, provides a place for observing birdlife, including Canadian geese, shoveler, grey teal and white-faced heron.
The mid-lagoon area is a mixture of reed beds and open mudflats which, at low tide, form the main feeding ground
for birds such as kuaka/godwits, torea/South Island pied oystercatcher, taranui/caspian tern and tūturiwhatu/banded dotterel.
The main channel forms the northern lagoon. Shellfish, such as pipi and cockles, can be found in sandy patches close to
the lagoon mouth. Tuna/eel, brown trout and yellow-eyed mullet, which can tolerate the higher concentration of salt water, feed around the mouth of the Pūharakekenui Styx River. The Pūharakekenui Styx River mouth is an important location for whitebaiting and an inanga spawning area. Shy and reclusive birds, such as the matuku-hūrepo/Australasian Bittern and koitareke/Marsh Crake, live in the raupo wetland that forms a dense and impassable mat at the mouth of the Pūharakekenui. Unfortunately they are rarely seen due to their excellent camouflage colouring.
Birds
The wetlands are used by migrating birds and provides a breeding habitat, wintering site and feeding spot for birds that migrate between the North and South Islands.
See what bird species have been spotted at the Lagoon. [PDF, 1.3 MB]
Flora
The vegetation on Brooklands Spit contains an example of a natural dune-land plant community in Christchurch. Cottonwood, flax, manuka, sand convolvulus and a couple of huge akeake and ngaio trees (with canopies nearly 10m across) can be found here.
Native plants, including ferns, grasses, rushes, sedges, herbs, trees and shrubs grow along the margins of the lagoon. The mudflats support various native sedges, rushes, grasses, salttolerant herbs and occasional shrubs, such as the saltmarsh
ribbonwood.
Read more about the history and environment on the Coastal Restoration Trust website(external link).
There are three dedicated walks in Spencer Park:
- Spencer Park Wetland Walk – a short stroll around ponds and native plantings.
- Brooklands Lagoon Walk – a 10km track alongside the lagoon and heading out to the estuary.
- Waimakariri Walkway – a well signposted sandy track heading along the lagoon to the mouth of the lagoon.
