The Rangitata Gorge is a gorge located in the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

High Country in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. The narrow gorge links the headwaters of the

Rangitata River The Rangitata River is one of the braided rivers of the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. It flows southeast for from the Southern Alps, entering the Pacific Ocean northeast of Timaru. The river has a catchment area of , and a mean ...

with the fertile

Canterbury Plains The Canterbury Plains () are an area in New Zealand centred in the Mid Canterbury, to the south of the city of Christchurch in the Canterbury region. Their northern extremes are at the foot of the Hundalee Hills in the Hurunui District, and ...

. The Rangitata gorge is commercially rafted by a local company. It is also a popular river for visiting kayakers, fishermen and adventurist locals in jet boats. The gorge is a class IV to V+ depending on the flow of the river and home to the notable rapids including Rooster's Tail, Pencil Sharpener, The Pinch, Pigs Trough and Hells Gate.

Rangitata Diversion Race

The Rangitata Diversion Race takes water from Klondyke at the bottom of the gorge. Construction of the race began in 1937 and completed in 1944. Today the race is 67 kilometers long and carries a maximum of 30 cubic metres of water per second. The race provides water for various irrigation systems and two power plants at Highbank and Montalto. After supplying irrigation demand, the canal discharges the remaining water via Highbank Power Station into the

Rakaia River The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Europ ...

Tenehaun Conservation Area

On the north bank of the gorge is the Tenehaun Conservation Area which has good views of the gorge. Activities include hiking and mountain biking.

Reference List

{{Coord, 43, 45, 14.49, S, 171, 12, 39.81, E, display=title Timaru District Populated places in the Canterbury Region