There’s something special about the South Island of New Zealand in winter. Waterfalls get wilder, mountains see the snow and bluebird days are crisp and invigorating. It’s a great time to hire a campervan and venture to some of the most beautiful destinations for a unique experience, different to the quintessential summer road trip.
A winter road trip in the South Island is made memorable with these incredible campgrounds. From lake views to forest-lined coastal settings, these locations offer picturesque spots to park your campervan and enjoy a few nights under the stars. Just make sure you’re staying in a toasty warm camper, and check what is running before you go, because some South Island campgrounds cut their services back over winter and others turn the taps off from May to September. Find the perfect camper for you on Camplify, then book ahead, because four of the five below take reservations.
1. Lakes Edge Holiday Park, Tekapo
In the heart of the Mackenzie Country lies Tekapo, a small lakeside town with big drawcards. Mountains border the bright blue lake and pine trees create a unique New Zealand setting. Lakes Edge Holiday Park sits on Lakeside Drive a kilometre from the village, and its sealed front-row powered sites look straight out across the water. In winter, the snow-covered mountains are a striking contrast to the milky blue waters of Lake Tekapo.
The park runs right through the cold months, with reception open 9am to 7pm in winter and the hot showers, kitchens, laundry and warm television lounge all going. Powered sites come sealed or on shingle and take anything from a small campervan to a bus, though most run eight metres. You’ll find drinking-water taps and a dump station for grey water.
Nearby ski areas Roundhill and Mt Dobson are why many campers base themselves here. Roundhill is 35 minutes along Lilybank Road, and its eight-kilometre access road climbs at a gradual gradient the field says suits campervans. Mt Dobson leaves State Highway 8 east of Tekapo, then climbs 15 kilometres of gravel that also takes them. Both want chains carried whatever you drive, and both post a road status early each morning, so read it before you start up.
Drive to Aoraki/Mount Cook for the day and explore the village and national park beneath the tallest mountain in New Zealand. DOC puts it an hour and a half from Tekapo, and warns that access can be limited from June to September once snow settles. Campervan hire in Christchurch is the usual start for this stretch of State Highway 8.
2. Driftaway Queenstown
Driftaway Queenstown is one of the best South Island campgrounds, out on the lakefront at Frankton with the beach at its gate. Park up at your powered site and look straight down the Frankton Arm of Lake Wakatipu, ten minutes from town. Sites come three ways: unpowered for a campervan under six metres, then standard or lakeview powered sites for anything under 8.5 metres.
Driftaway have top notch facilities including a fantastic kitchen, laundry room and a ski-drying room for wet gear, the one amenity you will be grateful for in August. Watch incredible sunsets from the outdoor BBQ area, then finish a winter’s day in a private hot tub looking down the lake.
If you’re starting your journey in Queenstown, campervan hire in Queenstown gives you a good run of campers and motorhomes. Milford the Luxury Mercedes is a Mercedes-Benz carrying a Kea Platinum body, sleeps six, and is listed as self-contained with the diesel heater that makes it work in winter. Vanessa is the other end of the scale, a 1996 Toyota Hiace that sleeps two and takes pets. Her listing states she is not certified self-contained, so freedom camping is out and a park like Driftaway is where she belongs. Since June 2026 the green warrant is the only self-containment certificate New Zealand recognises, and fines for camping without one start at $400.
3. Twelve Mile Delta, Queenstown
Still in Queenstown, yet it feels rural and remote, Twelve Mile Delta sits where Twelve Mile Creek spills into Lake Wakatipu, 12 kilometres west of town on the Glenorchy road. Regenerating forest surrounds the terraces, and the delta stood in as Ithilien Camp in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The road in is sealed from the highway to the delta, with narrow gravel loops once you are inside, which makes it the practical winter choice out this way. Neighbouring Moke Lake is prettier still, but DOC rates its gravel road as four-wheel-drive only in winter and shuts the taps off from May to September. Twelve Mile Delta has a hundred non-powered sites, takes no bookings, and costs $15 a night for adults and $7.50 for children. You’ll find non-flush toilets and a tap, but the water is untreated, so boil it, and your DOC Campsite Pass is not valid here.
This campground is ideal if you can stay overnight without power, which means a healthy house battery and heating you can run off it. Pick a site out from under the trees, as DOC recommends.
4. Purakaunui Bay Campground, The Catlins
The Catlins is the unsung hero of the South Island. Tucked away in the deep south on the east coast, this area is a place of spectacular natural beauty and incredible wildlife. Purakaunui Bay Campground is the perfect base for your time down here, with dramatic cliff faces above the bay and a good surf beach just south of the camp.
You do need to book, which is the detail most people get wrong, because the bay feels every bit like a first-come site. Reserve online, because no sites are held back if you simply turn up. Adults pay $15 a night and children $7.50. You get 40 non-powered sites, non-flush toilets and a tap whose water is untreated, so boil it. Campfires are allowed in the designated fireplaces when no ban is on, but bring your own firewood.
All sites here are unpowered, so a camper with heating and a battery that sees out a long southern night keeps you comfortable. The drive from Dunedin runs south through Balclutha and Owaka before narrowing to gravel, and there is no mobile coverage. Fall asleep to the sounds of waves crashing and wake to fresh winter mornings on the coast.
5. Lake Māhinapua, Hokitika
The wild West Coast, where forest presses in on the less travelled roads. Of the coast’s campgrounds, Lake Māhinapua is the one you can reach in a campervan in the middle of winter. It sits ten kilometres south of Hokitika, 300 metres off State Highway 6 opposite the old hotel, with bush running down to the water.
Facilities run better than most standard DOC sites, with flush toilets, a cold shower, a cooking shelter and a jetty across a hundred non-powered sites. Book online before you leave, at $18 a night for adults and $9 for children, because nothing is kept for you on arrival. The tap water is untreated, fires are never allowed, and the campground is pack in, pack out.
A motorhome with a diesel heater and a decent battery turns a wet coast evening into a good one. Further south, DOC states plainly that its Gillespies Beach campsite, reached by 21 kilometres of mostly narrow gravel from Fox Glacier, is not suitable for campervans or caravans.
Always check weather conditions, road status and accessibility before heading out, especially during winter.
If you’ve got a quirky camper or luxury motorhome sitting at home clogging up your driveway, consider listing it on Camplify and earning an income. Learn more about sharing your camper on Camplify here.
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