Panorama taken from a viewpoint along the edges of Lake Hawea. The picture shows part of this long lake and the mountain ranges on the eastern side.

Lake Hawea - Central Otago visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Lake Hawea' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Otago.

Lake Hawea is a natural lake in the Central Otago, part of the Queenstown-Lakes District on the South Island of New Zealand. The result of glaciation, Lake Hawea is held back by a terminal moraine at the southern end formed some 10,000 years ago. The lake is about 35km long and reaches depths around 390m. Lake Hawea is fed by the Hunter River. The only flat land is at the southern end where water drains into Hawea River and then flows a short distance to join the Clutha River at Albert town.

Lake Hawea lies in a parallel valley to Lake Wanaka. Most of the time the two lakes are separated by an 8km wide mountain range, but at one point an arm of Lake Hawea reaches out to Lake Wanaka, and here the two are only separated by a 1000m land ridge called The Neck.

Lake Hawea Township and Gladstone are both small settlements at the southern end of Lake Hawea. These provide accommodation for visitors. Lake Hawea is promoted as an all year round resort, with outdoor sports, adventure sports, fishing and walking in the summer and skiing at the nearby ski areas around Wanaka in the winter.

Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea are both thought to be named after local Maori tribes. These natural lakes are very different to Lake Dunstan, which is man made, formed by the Clyde Dam.

Car: Hawea, at the southern end of Lake Hawea, is about 15km north of Wanaka on the 6 Highway, which runs north up the western edge of the Lake Hawea before traversing The Neck and continuing north up the shore of Lake Wanaka.
Flight: Wanaka Airport.