Riccarton House and Bush: Christchurch Travel Guide (4.6★)

A forest older than the city

Christchurch was built on a swamp, and this is what grew on it. Behind a suburban street in Fendalton, a block of kahikatea floodplain forest still stands. It’s the last of its kind left on the Canterbury Plains. Ngāi Tahu know it as Pūtaringamotu.

Next to it sit a Victorian homestead and a small slab cottage built by the Deans brothers. Both belong to the Scottish settlers who farmed here from 1843. Together they make one of the most visited heritage sites in the city. It’s free to wander and easy to reach from the centre.

Under the kahikatea

The canopy closes overhead within a few steps of the gate. Kahikatea is New Zealand’s tallest native tree. Some of the trunks here have been growing for centuries, rising straight and grey with buttressed roots at their base.

A boardwalk and gravel path loop through the bush in roughly 20–30 minutes at an easy pace. A predator-proof fence, finished in 2004, encircles the forest. It keeps out rats, stoats and possums, so birdlife has a better chance here than in most suburban patches. Listen for:

• Korimako (bellbird), with a liquid, chiming call
• Pīwakawaka (fantail), which follows walkers to catch disturbed insects
• Kererū (native pigeon), heavy wingbeats overhead

Stay on the boardwalk. The ground under the trees is soft and full of seedlings, and that understorey is exactly what the fence exists to protect.

The Deans homestead and the 1843 cottage

Two buildings tell the settler story. Deans Cottage, built in 1843, is the oldest surviving building on the Canterbury Plains. It’s a modest timber structure, and you can peer inside to see how tight early colonial life was.

Riccarton House went up in stages between 1856 and 1900. It grew from a farmhouse into a grand two-storey homestead with verandas facing lawns that run down to the Avon River (Ōtākaro). The Deans family kept the bush from being cleared, which is why it survives at all.

The house interior is shown on guided tours and is also used for weddings and functions. Check the Riccarton Bush Trust’s website for current tour times before planning around it.

The Saturday market crush

On Saturday mornings the lawns fill with the Riccarton Farmers Market. Stalls sell local produce, coffee, baking and hot breakfasts, and Christchurch families make a weekly ritual of it. It’s a different place from the quiet forest you’d find on a weekday.

That market drives the crowd pattern. Weekends between 8am and 2pm are the busiest stretch at Riccarton House and Bush, with parking at its tightest. Come in that window if the market is the point. If you want the birds and the boardwalk to yourself, avoid it.

Getting to Kahu Road

The entrance is on Kahu Road in Fendalton, just north of busy Riccarton Road. From the city centre it’s about 3km west: a 10-minute drive, or a flat bike ride through Hagley Park.

There’s an on-site car park off Kahu Road. It fills quickly on Saturday mornings, so overflow parking spills into the surrounding residential streets. Several city bus routes run along Riccarton Road. Check the Metro journey planner for current services and walk the last few minutes north.

The grounds currently open 6am–7pm daily. Park hours can shift with the season, so confirm on the official site, especially for an evening visit in winter.

Walking the bush the way the trust asks

The forest is a protected reserve, not a playground. A few habits will keep you on good terms with the volunteers and regulars:

• Leave the dog at home for the bush. Dogs aren’t permitted inside the predator fence. Check signage for the rules on the open grounds.
• Close the gates behind you. The fence only works if the double gates stay shut. Wait for one to close before opening the next.
• No picking, no feeding. Leave seedlings, fungi and fallen fruit alone, and don’t feed the ducks by the river.
• Bring market money in two forms. Many stalls take cards, but smaller growers sometimes prefer cash.

Early mornings, from the 6am opening, are the obvious time for birdwatchers. Birds are most active then, and you’ll be ahead of the weekend market traffic.

Pairing it with west Christchurch

Riccarton sits within easy reach of the city’s other green spaces. Combine it with:

• Hagley Park and the Christchurch Botanic Gardens, a short ride east, for a full day of trees and lawns
• Mona Vale, another riverside homestead garden on the Avon in nearby Fendalton
• Westfield Riccarton, on Riccarton Road, if you need lunch or supplies afterwards

Allow about an hour for the bush loop, the cottage and a look at the homestead’s exterior. Allow longer if you join a house tour or linger at the Saturday market.