7 LOTR and Hobbit Filming Locations in New Zealand ...

By Neecey

If there’s one country I never need to find an excuse to write about, it’s New Zealand, and this time I’m bringing you some of the LOTR and Hobbit filming locations. Being a New Zealander, the director of LOTR and The Hobbit will have needed no encouragement or inducement to use his breathtakingly jaw-dropping, gorgeous homeland to make his movies. Practically recreating Tolkien’s world in the Land of the Long White Cloud, it was a no-brainer that Peter Jackson used the Hobbit filming locations that have became so familiar to us as moviegoers.

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1

Hobbiton

Hobbiton Top of the Hobbit filming locations has to be the recreation of the village in The Shire that is home to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, and all the other Hobbits. Hobbiton is one of those rare film sets that will probably remain as is for a long time after the movies are archived. The transformation of a picture perfect slice of green New Zealand countryside is located in Matamata on North Island and can be viewed on tours when filming is not taking place. You’re more likely to run into roaming sheep than hobbits though.

2

Isengard

Isengard If you want to follow in the footsteps of the great wizard Gandalf and ride to Isengard, you’ll need to make your way to New Zealand’s South Island. Isengard is in actuality an area of Mount Aspiring National Park known as Dan’s Paddock. In the Queenstown Lakes Region, near to Otago, Dan’s Paddock is a wonderful mixture of high mountains, beautiful river valleys and remote wilderness.

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This stunning landscape played host to the pivotal scenes featuring Saruman's stronghold, where treachery and dark magic took hold. Movie aficionados and adventure seekers alike flock to this region to bask in the pure majesty that the films only touched upon. Whether you're there to relive the iconic moments or simply to soak in the wild beauty, the Southern Alps provide a backdrop that can only be described as magical. Don your cloak, breathe the fresh mountain air, and imagine the once-mighty tower of Orthanc piercing the sky above.

3

Beacon Points

Beacon Points In my opinion, one of the most visually spectacular scenes in LOTR is the view of the lit beacons high in the peaks between Rohan and Gondor. This is the pivotal moment in The Return of the King when fortune finally turns the way of the light and we know there’s hope. You won’t be able to see a string of beacons, but visit Westland Tai Potini National Park on South Island and you won’t need much to fire your imagination.

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Westland Tai Poutini National Park is located on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is a World Heritage Site and covers an area of nearly 3,000 square kilometers. The park is known for its spectacular landscapes, with glaciers, mountains, and rainforests making up the majority of its terrain. It is also home to many species of native wildlife, including the endangered kiwi bird.

The park is most famous for its role as a filming location for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. One of the most iconic scenes is the view of the lit beacons high in the peaks between Rohan and Gondor. This scene is featured in The Return of the King and is a pivotal moment in the story. Visitors to the park can follow in the footsteps of the Fellowship and explore the area where this scene was filmed.

The park also features a number of other filming locations, including Mount Sunday, which was used as Edoras in The Two Towers. The nearby Lake Matheson is also featured in the films and is a popular spot for visitors to take in the breathtaking views of the mountains and nearby glaciers.

4

Dead Marshes

Dead Marshes To portray the Dead Marshes, Peter Jackson needed to find LOTR filming locations that really captured the atmosphere and foreboding of scenes where Gollum leads Frodo and Sam through the swamps, having to save Frodo from falling under the spell of the floating dead. Fiordland National Park is perfect. Occupying the corner of South Island, Fiordland is part of South West New Zealand World Heritage Area, known as Te Wāhipounamu. Fiordland is an area of spectacular narrow fjords carved over millennia by ice, deep valleys and gorges, pristine, crystal lakes and rugged granite mountains. It is beautiful, vast and wild.

5

Fangorn Forest

Fangorn Forest Remember the gorgeous forest where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meet up with Gandalf the White? That place for real is Snowden Forest, another of the Hobbit filming locations on South Island. And this too lies within Te Wāhipounamu. A popular recreation area, the forest is visited by many sportsmen who love to fish and hunt as well as hikers, bird watchers and wildlife viewers.

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6

Mordor

Mordor It’s a magnificent dichotomy that something in the actual world that we see as breathtakingly beautiful can, in the hands of skilled movie makers, become a land as dark and full of evil as Mordor. Such is the case with Tongariro National Park on North Island that provides much of the setting and backdrop for the land where the shadows lie. One of the most spectacular LOTR and Hobbit filming locations, the 300 square mile national park features the active volcanoes, emerald lakes, steam vents and very desolate terrain of Tolkien’s imagination.

7

Edoras

Edoras Edoras is the capital of Rohan and home to Meduseld, the hall of King Theoden. The focal point of the fictional kingdom of Edoras is Mount Sunday, which is actually a hill called Mount Potts which sits in Hakatere Conservation Park in mid-central South Island. Mount Potts sits on a rugged grassy plain (known as tussocklands) surrounded by rugged mountains, beech forest and crystal clear rivers.

If you can’t travel to these amazing Hobbit filming locations, you’ll have to satisfy your Tolkien wanderlust by watching the movies. Which of the Hobbit and LOTR filming locations do you think is a best match for how Tolkien described them?

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Makes me want to watch all these movies. I am a huge fan of lord of the rings trilogy. And in fact I did dream to visit these places the film had taken place in!!!! Thank you so much for the details! Off I go!!

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