Freedom Camping

Getting out and about in our district’s beautiful river and coastal areas is popular with visitors and Whanganui locals alike. We welcome freedom campers and have regulations in place around where people can freedom camp to help protect our public places and ensure access for everyone.

The Freedom Camping Bylaw includes restrictions such as limiting how long people can freedom camp in certain areas, what vehicles they can use, and how many vehicles can be freedom camping at any one time.

General rules for freedom camping

To make freedom camping work for everyone, we’ve brought in some general rules to follow:

• fires are not permitted at any of our freedom camping sites, on Department of Conservation land or at public parks and reserves.
• dogs must be on a lead at all times unless they are in an area where dogs are allowed off-lead – dog access areas.
• our rules limit the number of vehicles allowed to freedom camp in an area at one time. If the maximum number of vehicles at a site has been met or space is an issue, please move to another site.
• keep the area tidy and take your litter with you when you leave – rubbish and recycling page.
• use approved dump stations for all grey/black water.

Please note you can be fined $400 under the Freedom Camping Act if these rules are not followed.

All of the rules are contained in the Freedom Camping Bylaw.

Where you can freedom camp

The map below shows the restricted (yellow) and prohibited (red) freedom camping areas.

Several areas have also been prohibited entirely, and many areas have “buffer zones” – areas around them where freedom camping is prohibited.

Click here for a map of all sites and buffer zones.

Self-contained camping

Your vehicle needs to have a current self-containment certification to stay at any of the following freedom camping sites:

• Babbage Place
• Jubilee Stadium Carpark
• Mowhanau lookout carpark
• Westmere Lake carpark
• Castlecliff Beach
• Moutoa Quay (5pm to 8am, Saturday to Thursday only)

Tips and tricks

Whanganui is home to several excellent paid campground facilities, and if you don’t meet the self-containment requirements specified above, we strongly recommend you check these out. View a full list here

There’s a lot to see and do in our district, and you may want to park your vehicle closer to the CBD during the day to allow you to explore. For longer vehicles that may struggle with conventional parks, we recommend the free parking along Taupo Quay next to Moutoa Gardens, along Somme Parade, on Guyton Street or in the two campervan parks on Moutoa Quay (near the isite). 

If you are concerned about someone at a freedom camping site who may be experiencing homelessness, please get in contact with us so we can connect them with services that can help. Call (06)349001 or get in touch through our free Antenno app.