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GIS Data

Geospatial data forms the backbone of our mapping systems. Our GIS team work with many government and local organizations to provide this data and maintain it regularly. On this page users can learn more about map layers, data sources, system changes, accessing our data, and understanding its limitations.

Please take a moment to read our data disclaimer when accessing or using data from our maps. 

On this page

  1. Map layers
  2. Recent updates
  3. Changelog
  4. Open Data Portal
  5. REST map services
  6. License 
  7. Disclaimer
  8. Contact

Map layers

Public Access Areas

Public Access Areas indicate where the public has a right of access across land. 

  • NZ Road Parcel—Legal roads both formed and unformed. These are a download of the New Zealand Road Parcels dataset from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). See data source. 
  • Walkway Easements— Easements established under the Walking Access Act 2008 - derived from LINZ Cadastre information and processed by NZWAC. View on Open Data Portal.
  • Reserve Land— parks and reserves, includes reserves returned to Iwi through Treaty Settlement - derived from LINZ Cadastre information processed by NZWAC. View on Open Data Portal.
  • Esplanade Strips— Strips are over private land and in favour of the Territorial Authority. Layer derived from non-Primary Parcel information. View on Open Data Portal.
  • Esplanade Reserves - Generally owned and managed by the Territorial Authority. Layer derived from LINZ Cadastre information and processed by NZWAC. View on Open Data Portal.
  • PAE – Crown Forest Asset Act – Shows the location of Public Access Easements created for the protection of public access rights over Crown Forest Licences. Most licenses have since returned to Maori ownership. Layer derived from memorial information from Landonline and Non-Primary Parcel information and processed by NZWAC. View on Open Data Portal.
  • DOC Public Conservation Areas – Are a download of the latest DOC Public Conservation Areas direct from Department of Conservation (DOC) itself. This data includes Marginal Strips fixed and movable. See data source. 

Property Information

A collection of the major, national-level cadastral datasets relevant to public access, land, and property. All data supplied by Land Information New Zealand. 

  • Non-Primary Parcels - Layer containing non-primary parcels such as easements, right of ways, utilities, marginal strips, and covenants. See data source.
  • Hydro Parcels - This layer contains current hydro parcel polygons and descriptive information. Note: Hydro parcels do not denote legal public access. See data source.
  • NZ Primary Parcels - This layer is the complete parcel dataset containing primary and non-primary parcels, roads, and hydro. See data source.
  • NZ Property Titles - This dataset provides title information (excluding ownership) where there is a relationship to one or more primary parcels. A Record of Title is a record of a property's owners, legal description, and the rights and responsibilities registered against the title. This dataset does not contain any ownership information so that it can be freely distributed. See data source.

Hunting & Fishing 

A collection of various national-level layers relating to hunting, fishing and accessing land for recreational purposes. Use in conjunction with the Public Access Areas layers to ensure you are ONLY accessing publicly accessible land or private land with permission. 

  • Hunting and Fishing - This layer contains river and coastal access points, fishing/hunting access locations and Fish & Game Council locations. All information supplied by Fish & Game NZ. 
  • Fish and Game Boundary - This layer depicts the areas covered by each Fish & Game Council. All information supplied by Fish & Game NZ. 
  • DOC Recreational Hunting Permit Areas - This dataset is the Department of Conservation's record of those parts of Public Conservation Land where recreational hunting may take place. If hunting within these areas you MUST obtain a hunting permit first; either online at Things to do - Hunting or from your local DOC office. See data source.

Tracks & Trails

A collection of tracks and trails for a variety of use types and difficulties/ abilities. Use in conjunction with the Public Access Areas layers to ensure you are ONLY accessing publicly accessible land or private land with permission.

This collection is indicative of location and basic information only, for more comprehensive trail information, see our trail finder Find My Adventure.

  • Walking & Tramping - This layer contains thousands of walking and tramping tracks across Aotearoa. These tracks are defined by having the single permitted use of walking/tramping/running. Click on a trail to see more about the trail. All data sourced from local/ regional councils, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and the Department of Conservation (DOC). 
  • Shared Use - This layer contains hundreds of shared-use tracks and trails including walking, mountain biking, running, horse riding, and cycling. These tracks are defined by having two or more permitted uses that generally include walking, but not always. Click on a trail to see what activities are permitted. All data sourced from local/ regional councils, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and the Department of Conservation (DOC). 
  • Mountain Biking - This layer contains hundreds of local mountain biking tracks. These tracks are defined by being almost exclusively for mountain biking, with a few exceptions. Click on a trail to see more about the track including difficulties. All data sourced from local/ regional councils, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and the Department of Conservation (DOC). 
  • Te Araroa Trail - This layer contains the current Te Araroa trail in it's entirety. Data sourced and managed in partnership between Te Araroa Trust and the Walking Access Commission. Visit Te Araroa - New Zealand's Trail to learn more. View on Open Data Portal.
  • New Zealand Cycle Trails - This layer contains the current New Zealand Cycle Trail Great Rides and Heartland Rides. All data sourced from New Zealand Cycle Trails. 

Huts, Campsites & Access Points

A collection of useful outdoor recreation layers for tramping, camping, hunting and fishing. Use in conjunction with the Public Access Areas layers to ensure you are ONLY accessing publicly accessible land or private land with permission.

  • River & Coastal Access Points (ECAN) - This layer contains locations of river and coastal access points, specifically for the Canterbury region. Data supplied by Environment Canterbury.  
  • DOC Huts - This layer contains locations of all DOC huts and bivvies. If you intend to stay in a hut/bivvy, please confirm with your local office or the DOC website that it is available and not under a temporary or more permanent closure before departing. See data source.
  • DOC Campsites - This layer contains locations of all DOC campsites.
    If you intend to stay at a campsite, please confirm with your local office or the DOC website that it is available and not under a temporary or more permanent closure before departing. See data source.

Recent updates

Below are a quick summary of recent updates to the maps. For more detail, see the changelog.

November 2022

October 2022

August 2022

  • Updated look and feel of New Zealand Walking Access Mapping System, now Herenga ā Nuku Maps.
  • Added new print layout templates for A3 and A4 map downloads. 
  • Social logins removed temporarily - long term fix sought. 

Changelog

The Herenga ā Nuku Maps changelog contains detail about recent changes to the system. This changelog is now updated on a monthly basis. 

Our Maps changelog

 

 

Open Data Portal

 

Explore, view and download public access data for free. Available datasets include Te Araroa trail, reserve land, esplanade reserves and more. Start using our Open Data Portal now. 

REST map services 

You can use the layer as an ESRI map service:
REST END POINT: https://maps.herengaanuku.govt.nz/maps/rest/services/

Licence

The Public Access Area GIS data from our maps is made available to the public to re-use under the Creative Commons 3.0 License, to view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/nz.

GIS users, developers, and the public are welcome to this information layer as per the terms and conditions below.

Disclaimer

  1. Herenga ā Nuku | Aotearoa Outdoor Access Commission makes no express or implied warranties as to the accuracy or completeness of the data or information, nor its suitability for any purpose. Errors are inevitably part of any database and can arise by a number of means. This includes information supplied from other parties.
  2. The Commission makes no warranties or representations as to possible infringement upon copyrights or other intellectual property rights of others in the data or information.
  3. The Commission will not accept liability for any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages, losses or expenses howsoever arising and relating to use, or lack of use, of the data or information supplied.
  4. Take care when deriving conclusions from any data or information supplied.
  5. Any use of the data or information supplied should state when the data or information was acquired, and that it may now be out-of-date.

Contact

If you have a question, require more information or if you would like to be informed of scheduled downtime of the map services, please contact us at GIS@herengaanuku.govt.nz.

 

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