Queen Elizabeth Park, Regional park on Kāpiti Coast, New Zealand
Queen Elizabeth Park is a regional park stretching across the Kāpiti Coast with extensive sand dunes and coastal landscapes. The park contains multiple walking tracks through natural areas where visitors can explore the shoreline and inland terrain on foot.
Ngāti Haumia, a hapū of Ngāti Toa and Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai, held the land until the mid-19th century, with pā sites at Whareroa and Wainui beaches. In 1942–44 the park hosted Camp MacKay and Camp Russell, United States Army and Marine bases of about 20,000 troops bound for the Pacific. It was named for Queen Elizabeth II before her coronation and opened during the 1953 Royal Visit; the Reserves Act 1977 later made it a recreation reserve.
Ngāti Haumia, a hapū of Ngāti Toa, and Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai are the tangata whenua and held the area until the mid-19th century. Pā sites remain at Whareroa Beach and Wainui Beach. The Ramaroa visitor centre, opened in 2017, takes design cues from Māori wharenui and from the tents and huts of the wartime US Marines camps.
The park is open from 8 am to dusk all year. The main entrance is at Mackays Crossing, with secondary entrances in Raumati South and Paekākāriki. Toilets stand at the Whareroa Beach road-end car park and near the playground at the Paekākāriki entrance. Dogs must be leashed in picnic areas and are barred from farmland; fireworks are prohibited.
A tramway museum within the park preserves and operates historic trams that run on weekends and public holidays. These restored vehicles offer a chance to experience how people traveled in earlier times along the coast.
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