About 620 people live in this village on State Highway 8, inside the Aoraki Mackenzie dark sky reserve, and at least five companies here sell time at a telescope. Skis and boards are fitted at Roundhill's base lodge, 32 km up Lilybank Road on the lake's east shore. In summer two village shops hire out bikes, and Tekapo is one of the start points of the Alps 2 Ocean trail.
Where do skiers staying in Lake Tekapo pick up their gear?
At Roundhill. Nobody in the village rents skis, boards or boots, so you drive 32 km up Lilybank Road and walk into the rental room in the base lodge, where an adult set was $75 and a child's $49 through the 2026 season. There's nothing to book online. The one piece of winter hire in town is jackets and pants, from Kiwi Treasures on Rapuwai Lane.
What is there to rent in Lake Tekapo over summer?
Bikes, from two shops in the village that both book online: BeSpoke Bike Tours charges from $40 for two hours and also hires e-bikes, and Outside Sports starts at $30. Riders can start the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail from Tekapo, and BeSpoke shuttles them out onto it. Horse treks leave from Balmoral Station on Godley Peaks Road.
No ski shop in the village
Skis, boards and boots all come out of Roundhill's own fleet of more than 550 sets, fitted in the base lodge. The jacket and pants to wear with them are the one thing you can rent in the village.
| Shop | Adult set, full day | Child set, full day | Hires | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Roundhill Ski Area rental
Base lodge, 2544 Lilybank Road
|
$75 | $49 | Rossignol skis, Burton boards, helmets ($15), nutcracker and harness for the Heritage Express ($30), toboggans, wrist guards | Walk in on the day |
| Shop | Adult set, full day | Child set, full day | Hires | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kiwi Treasures
12 Rapuwai Lane, the souvenir shop, information center and post shop
|
Ask in store | Ski jackets and ski pants | In store | |
Prices are what Roundhill charged through the 2026 winter, which finished on 20 September. A set is skis, poles and boots, or a board and boots; adults are 18 and over. Kiwi Treasures publishes no clothing prices.
BeSpoke opens 9am to 5pm every day of summer, and the horse treks at Balmoral Station went to peak rates on 1 November. Paddle Tekapo's kayak truck may not come back to Lakeside Drive.
For an e-bike, go to BeSpoke. Outside Sports keeps its e-MTBs at its Queenstown and Wanaka stores.
Trek hardtails at $40 for two hours, $60 a half day and $85 a day, with a helmet. E-bikes for riders 16 and up cost $85 for up to three hours or $125 a day, kids' bikes $30 to $60, and one of three child seats (ages 1 to 4) $25 a half day.
Book a Trek or e-bike →Hardtail mountain bikes from $30 and 7-speed kids' bikes from $15, helmet included, in the lane behind Rapuwai Lane. The store has been open since February 2021.
Bike rentals →Three shuttles a day, at 9:30am, 11:30am and 1:30pm, drop riders at Dog Kennel Corner to ride to Willow Bay. The ride from Tekapo to Twizel with a bike and a shuttle back is $175 a person, plus $45 on an e-bike.
Shuttles and prices →Guided mountain bike rides on Mt Hay Station, checking in at 48a D'Archiac Drive by the Balmoral Farmyard, and helibiking from $690 for a half day. At the end of October its website still said it was closed for the season.
Their website →Single kayaks and SUPs from $30 an hour and doubles at $60, hired walk-up from a truck on Lakeside Drive on fine days. Its website said it would close in December 2025 unless it found a buyer, and we found no sign of a 2026-27 season.
Their website →Hot pools, a steam room and sauna, a day spa and mini golf at 300 Lakeside Drive, with the Altitude 720 cafe on site.
Their website →Guided fishing, fly or spin, for 2 hours or 6 to 8 hours. You check in at Kiwi Treasures on Rapuwai Lane.
Their website →Treks from Balmoral Station, from 30 minutes ($120 adult, $99 child) to a half day ($530 in peak season). An hour costs $230 for an adult between 1 November and 31 March.
Their website →The Grand Traverse, about 50 minutes in a fixed-wing plane, and helicopter flights of 35, 50 or 65 minutes with a snow landing.
Their website →Scenic flights, glacier heli-hikes and heli-biking from 697 Tekapo-Twizel Road, plus golf and The Bad Decision, the family-owned company's whisky hut.
Their website →4WD tours and self-drive two-seat ATVs across 50,000 acres farmed by the same family since 1928. Part of Go Tekapo, which also runs farm tours and a petting zoo.
Their website →Sort it in the village
Roundhill rents neither clothing nor chains, so sort both in the village before you leave: clothing on Rapuwai Lane, chains at the service station.
Tekapo to the Roundhill car park
Outside 8am to 5pm, and whenever the ski area is shut, a gate closes the last 5 km to cars. Walkers and cyclists can still go through.
The University of Canterbury runs Mt John Observatory on the summit. By day you can drive up for $8 a car, paid at the kiosk on the access road, or walk.
Up Mt John
The Astro Cafe and the summit tours at night both belong to the Dark Sky Project, which Ngāi Tahu Tourism owns.
Tekapo straddles State Highway 8, 227 km from Christchurch and 256 km from Queenstown. Roundhill reckons on about 3 hours to its car park from either city, and 90 minutes from Timaru.
Roundhill says there is no public shuttle service to the mountain, so a ski day from Tekapo means your own car or Tekapo Taxi. The road and the parking are free for everyone.
Carry them. When the Fit Chains Here sign is out, 2WD cars must put them on; 4WDs only have to in exceptional conditions, which the snow report announces and staff are posted for. The road takes campervans and heavy vehicles. Getting to Roundhill →
Roundhill updates it by 6:30am every morning of the season. The rare days when 4WDs must chain up are posted there too, so look at it before turning onto Lilybank Road.
The daily Tekapo Bus links the village with Christchurch Airport, with stops at Ashburton, Geraldine and Fairlie. It leaves the airport at 2:15pm and pulls into Tekapo at 5:45pm, $89 for an adult with $5 added per booking. June and July 2027 show no service, though, so a midwinter ski trip still needs a car. BeSpoke Bike Tours drives groups of four or more from Timaru Airport for $110 each.
Challenge Tekapo, beside the fire station, has fuel and a 24/7 laundry that takes Paywave. Four Square Tekapo, a family-owned store at 22 Rapuwai Lane, is the place for groceries.
Mt Dobson's turnoff is 18 km along State Highway 8 toward Fairlie, and from there a gravel road climbs 15 km to a car park at 1,725 m. Its 2026 season was set to start on 3 July and was over by 22 September. Ohau, past Twizel, is 60 to 90 minutes' drive.
The airstrip 5 km west of the village is where the scenic flights leave from, including Air Safaris' Grand Traverse.
Local farmers started a club field here in the early 1960s. It closed in 1990, reopened as Roundhill in 2001, and has been owned by the Rieder family of Tekapo since 2012. Today it has 550 hectares and 783 m of vertical, which Roundhill bills as the biggest in Australasia.
A gentle area of its own with a platter and two short rope tows, and snowmaking. The First Timer Package ($165 adult, $105 child) bundles a learner pass, rental with a helmet and a 90-minute group lesson. You can't book it, so turn up an hour before the 10:30am or 1:30pm lesson.
The T1 T-bar is 1.2 km long, and T2 has served the back basin since 2012. The trail map marks 45% of the terrain intermediate, including Karl's Run, Aud's Way, Speedway and Charlie's Run, and Roundhill grooms these trails wide, with natural dips and curves left in. Snowmaking covers the runs beside T1.
Roundhill calls it the world's longest rope tow. Built in 2010, it climbs 1,473 m at 26 to 32 degrees to 2,133 m, tripled the skiable area and opened up long natural half-pipes, chutes and steep ungroomed snow. Riders need a nutcracker and harness. The advanced runs on the trail map include The Wolf, The Bowl, The Long Drop and Who's Your Daddy.
Group lessons run 90 minutes at 10:30am and 1:30pm, $70 for adults and $58 for kids, bought in person on the day. Adult groups and every snowboard group are for beginners, while kids' ski groups go up to intermediate. A private hour is $145 plus $50 for each extra person up to five, and it's the only lesson sold online.
Cass Valley Ski Touring takes skiers to huts on the Gammack Range from Glenmore Station, 15 minutes' drive out on Godley Peaks Road. Alpine Recreation runs IFMGA-guided ski and split-board tours, avalanche courses and its own Cass Valley trips, and Mackenzie Helicopters flies heli-skiers.
Tekapo Springs on Lakeside Drive opens a 150 m Snow Tube Park with a magic carpet from about May or June until October, and an outdoor ice rink where skates and a helmet come with admission. The rink reopens in April 2027.
Three learner lifts of their own and a $165 first-day package with nothing to book.
Two T-bars and wide groomed runs, though every lift on the hill is a surface lift.
Chutes and 783 m of vertical, reached by a steep rope tow on a nutcracker.
A free pass up to age 5, then $56 a day until 17.
32 km from the village each way, with chains to carry and no shuttle.
Marked out of 5 on the assumption that you're based in the village and drive the 64 km round trip up the east shore.
Tekapo has kept its lights down since a by-law in the 1981 Mackenzie District Plan, and the reserve around it was designated in June 2012. The five companies below run their telescopes from Mt John, Mt Hay Station, a lakefront site, private land on Andrew Don Drive and Tekapo Springs.
The Summit Experience, 1 hour 45 minutes including a 15-minute bus ride, puts you on 16-inch telescopes at Mt John Observatory with cold-weather jackets supplied. Its Crater Experience at Cowan's Private Observatory is 75 minutes from age 5, and the indoor Dark Sky Experience centers on a restored 125-year-old Brashear telescope.
Their website →Soak in the Stars is 90 minutes at the telescopes, then a private hot pool with the guide poolside: $179 for adults and $499 for a family. A 60-minute telescope tour costs $129 and comes with a daytime pass to the hot pools.
Their website →Tours on station farmland, from 75 minutes for $119 on 14-inch scopes up to the $299 Astronomer's Experience on an 18-inch telescope that Silver River says is the biggest in commercial use in the South Island. Three hours of astrophotography costs $599.
Their website →A 90-minute tour on private land at 70 Andrew Don Drive, a 4-minute drive or a 25-minute walk from the town center. Guests must be 5 or older.
Their website →Shared 90-minute tours from a lakefront site, with children aged 6 to 16 at $79. It also runs private tours at your accommodation.
Their website →Rapuwai Lane turns off State Highway 8 and Motuariki Lane runs behind it, and between them they hold The Greedy Cow, Jack Rabbit, the burger bar and the wood-fired pizza. Up the hills, the Astro Cafe sits on Mt John and Southern Sky Roasters works out of Mistake Drive.
The Dark Sky Project's restaurant at 1 Motuariki Lane, open Thursday from 4pm and Friday to Sunday from noon.
The cafe and bar at Tekapo Springs, 300 Lakeside Drive.
Fish and chips on Lakeside Drive.
On the corner of Neil Anderson Way, and open until 11pm.
Burgers at number 5.
A restaurant and bar at number 7.
Open from 7:30am, seven days a week except Christmas Day, at 16 Rapuwai Lane.
Nepalese and Indian cooking, also at 16 Rapuwai Lane.
Wood-fired pizza at 6 Rapuwai Lane.
Sushi and sashimi made with salmon from the local farms, on State Highway 8.
The Dark Sky Project's summit cafe, 9am to 4pm every day.
A coffee roastery at 33 Mistake Drive.
Allpress coffee, gourmet pies and indoor seats for 150, plus the decks.
A small refreshment hut up by where the T1 T-bar finishes.
For a barbecue at Roundhill, stock up at Four Square Tekapo on Rapuwai Lane. The ski area welcomes barbecues and deck chairs in the car park.
From the ticket office to the lakefront
The first six come from Roundhill's ticket office and rental room. The rest cover the Springs, the station tours and summer hire.
Bikes
Ski & Snowboard
E-Bikes & Scooters
Guided Tours
ATV & Off-Road
Lessons & Instruction
Multi-Day Adventures
Group Activities
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Rentals
Experiences & tours
Rentals
Destinations in the same region and country, then others known for the same rentals and activities.
FAQ
Answers checked October 2026. Prices and rules change each season, so confirm with the operator before you go.
Contact UsNot skis or boards. Those come from Roundhill's base lodge, which keeps more than 550 sets of Rossignol skis and Burton boards and charged adults $75 and children $49 a day in 2026. In the village, Kiwi Treasures on Rapuwai Lane rents ski jackets and pants.
Photos: Hagai Agmon-Snir (CC BY-SA 4.0), Pseudopanax (Public domain), Ulrich Lange (CC BY 3.0)
Check your listing in this guide and send us your 2027 prices. To run bookings, gear and customers in one place, start a free 21-day trial.
Software for Lake Tekapo operators: Bikes · Ski & Snowboard · Tours · ATV & Off-Road · Activities & Adventure
