Technically the park is still there (meaning the land and beautiful mountain scenery), public access is now denied though. As reported in the Otago Daily Times Owner Frank Mee said he was closing the park, but it was not for sale. He said the park had been making money and was “very popular”. “Everyone is going bankrupt in Queenstown, but we are not. . . we’re just getting too old, so we’re giving up,” he said.

We think giving up may be a bit harsh Frank… you are 87 after all, and you opened the  wildlife park 40 years ago.

Deer Park Heights is known for its wildlife but became famous after filming for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Many Lord or the Rings film locations are within the park boundaries. Many Lord of the Rings tours from around Queenstown and New Zealand visit the park. A couple of the most recognisable movie scenes include the Warg battle with the Riders of Rohan and the perfectly clear lake the Rohirrim Refugee were led past. Ladies (and some gentlemen readers) will remember the  scene where Aragorn falls from the cliff during the Warg battle which was also filmed here.

Scenes for X-Men Origins: Wolverine were also filmed at the Park.

The closure of Deer Park Heights was very sudden and the various Lord of the Rings Tour companies and are still working out what access, if any will remain. We will keep you updated.

Keyword sentence:

Lord of the Rings location Deer Park heights in Queenstown no longer allows public access to location tours

follow the National link above to learn about Red Carpet Tours Lord of the Rings 12 Day Tour departing Auckland and finishing in Queenstown.

For those with less time their Hobbiton 1 Day Tour departs Auckland around 8.30am and returns around 4pm.

More Tours to follow…

Some exciting  news to come out of Hobbiton recently…

Ian Brodie, author of the Lord of the Locations Guidebook (includes all the best locations tour in New Zealand)  is moving on from his position as Director of the New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum to take up a post with the Alexander family, in his recently created position as Hobbiton Media and Communications manager.

Still no official confirmation from anybody about filming actually occurring at the farm…

perhaps they are waiting for the Media and Communications manager starts work on the 1st September…

More Hobbit updates and Lord of the Rings Tour destinations to follow soon…

Why are we excited?

Bilbo visits Rivendell in The Hobbit and the upcoming movie will have Rivendell scenes. When they do start filming this is great for Wellington Rover Tours passengers who will be able to spy during the tour. Visit Wellington Rover Tours website.

There have been concerns The Hobbit may be a ‘studio movie’ with a major use of green screens. This would be a big shift from how the LOTR filmed. Lets hope they do make use of some beautiful New Zealand locations and return to Rivendell.

” I nearly died from excitement today even though all they’re doing is gardening. Basically putting in a shedload of hedges at the moment and doing something odd with a tree, they’re making Hobbiton much bigger though as there’s some boards up that apparently are locations of new hobbit holes to be built, they’re not likely to start building them back up til late this year, but still, HOBBITON!”

still no official confirmation from either the studios or Hobbiton… but one of our most hoped for guesses is falling into line…

the rebuilting process had us thinking back at the office… how much of Hobbiton do they need to rebuilt? Bilbo and the Dwarves spend little time there, besides the time inside Bagend that is. Is this a case of rebuilting Hobbiton for some classic Peter Jackson aptmosphere or will The Hobbit movie start with a few ‘life as a hobbit’ scenes?

Makes you wonder