Mt Somers is in a great location to cater for an outdoor holiday. You can relax in our country Holiday Park environment, or take part in one of the many activities that are on our doorstep.
Mt Somers Village has approximately 200 residents and in the Village you will find a General Store, Garage, Tavern, Holiday Park, School and Domain. In less than an hour you can be tramping one of New Zealand's Great Walks on the Mt Somers Walkway or visiting historical sights. Also there is The Lord of the Rings locations, skiing on Mt Hutt, mountain biking on the Stour track, jet boating the Rakaia River, fishing in arguably the best salmon fishing river in New Zealand, ballooning or helicoptering over the Canterbury Plains. There are also 3 stunning golf courses close by – Mayfield, Methven Golf Course and Terrace Downs.
Mt Somers Village
- General Store: Open 7 days a week, post and petrol
- Mt Somers Tavern: meals 7 days a week, Sky TV, Spark Sport and bottle store
- Stronechrubie Bistro Restaurant is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 5:30pm and offers a casual dining experience with a modern twist on your classic Kiwi bistro cuisine
- Mt Somers garage
- Community swimming pool
- Squash and tennis court
Ashburton Lakes
The Ashburton Gorge is scattered with stunning lakes in superb alpine scenery of the foothills. They offer a variety of watersports such as salmon and trout fishing, windsurfing, kayaking, jet skiing and water skiing. Lake Heron, Lake Camp, Lake Clearwater and Lake Emma. For more water adventures go on a Whitewater Rafting Tour on the Rangitata River or a Jet-boating Tour on the Rakaia River.
Mt Somers Conservation Area
Highlight is the Mt Somers Track (former Mt Somers Sub-alpine Walkway, 17km, 1-2 days), that links the popular picnic spots of Woolshed Creek and Sharplin Falls. There are several walking tracks and easy tramping tracks from 30 minutes to 4 hours amongst historic coal mines, impressive volcanic formations, a deep river canyon in the Mt Somers Conservation Area.
"Edoras" or Mt Sunday
Not far from Mt Somers Village the capital of Rohan was built in the year 2000, where a significant part of The Lord of the Rings was filmed. Although the LOTR buildings are all gone you can still look for footprints on an Edoras Tour.
Hakatere Conservation Park
It covers nearly 60,000 hectares of rugged mountain country, tussocklands, beech forest and sparkling clear rivers and lakes between two mighty rivers the Rakaia and Rangitata.
Skiing on Mt Hutt
In winter, you can find the best and most developed ski and snowboard area in the southern hemisphere, with a bungy jump into the powder of Mt Hutt. Nearby Mt Potts offers Heli Ski and Snowcat Ski. Other ski fields are located in Temple Basin, Craigieburn, Broken River, Mt Cheeseman, Porter Heights and Mt Olympus. In summer, the Canterbury high country is a great place for bush-walking and examining a unique flora: 130 species of alpine plants can only be found on Mt Hutt.