Panorama taken from the road to the Invincible Gold Mine in Rees Valley. This image overlooks the valley and the braided river below, showing the classical signs of glaciation in the past. It was a cloudy day with the weather closing in.

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

The Rees Valley lies north of Glenorchy in Central Otago. The walk up to the Invincible Gold Mine departs from nearby. In this image you can see the Rees River as it winds it's way south to Lake Wakatipu. The valley is formed by glaciation and the water levels vary greatly with the season and weather.

One of the Great Walks of New Zealand is the Dart-Rees Track, which links the Rees Valley with the Dart River in Paradise, crossing the mountain range that separates them. The track passes through stunning scenery and shows why the area was chosen for filming parts of the Lord of the Rings. Scenes for Isengard, Lothlórien, Amon Hen, Orthanc, and the setting of the last battle in 'The Fellowship of the Ring", where Merry and Pippin get captured by the Uruk-hai' were all shot in the Paradise / Glenorchy region.

Car: Rees Valley is accessible via the Rees Valley Road from Glenorchy, which is about 45km from Queenstown down the Glenorchy-Queenstown road which runs down the eastern side of Lake Wakatipu.
Flight: Queenstown Airport.