Hokitika River

Hokitika River
Hokitika River
	Hokitika River with Southern Alps in the background
Location
Country	New Zealand
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Southern Alps
Mouth
• location	Tasman Sea
Length	64 kilometres (40 mi)

The Hokitika River is in the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is about 64 kilometers (40 mi) long, beginning in the Southern Alps, emerging from the narrow Hokitika Gorge after merging with the Whitcombe River, and flowing into the Tasman Sea just south of the town of Hokitika. The river then feeds into the offshore Hokitika Canyon, which merges with the Cook Canyon to form the Cook Channel.^[1] The canyons extend to about 650 km (400 mi) and are important spawning areas for hoki, hake^[2] and orange roughy.^[3]

The Hokitika River, and its eastern tributary, the Kokatahi River, have formed the Kowhitirangi-Kokatahi alluvial plain; a fertile and productive land extensively used for dairy farming.

The entrance to the Hokitika River was once used as a harbour during the West Coast gold rush; however, the sand bar at the river mouth created a treacherous and often fatal obstacle - resulting in many shipwrecks. After the gold-rush subsided, the use of the river as a harbour declined and is now no longer used.

References

^ "Place name detail: 14251". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
^ "Vast underwater canyons revealed". NIWA. 18 December 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
^ B.R. Moore, C. Ó Maolagáin, K. Spong, A. Dutilloy, R.J. Saunders (December 2021). "Age composition of orange roughy from Cook Canyon (ORH 7B) in 2019 and 2020" (PDF). NIWA.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

https://teara.govt.nz/en/1966/hokitika-river

42°43′S 170°57′E / 42.717°S 170.950°E / -42.717; 170.950

This article about a river in the West Coast Region of New Zealand is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Place name detail: 14251". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 21 November 2022.

[2] "Vast underwater canyons revealed". NIWA. 18 December 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2022.

[3] B.R. Moore, C. Ó Maolagáin, K. Spong, A. Dutilloy, R.J. Saunders (December 2021). "Age composition of orange roughy from Cook Canyon (ORH 7B) in 2019 and 2020" (PDF). NIWA.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Landforms of Westland District, New Zealand
Alpine passes	Arthur's Pass Browning Pass / Nōti Raureka Copland Pass Haast Pass
Bays	Bruce Bay Jackson Bay
Canyons, gorges and waterfalls	Fantail Falls Gates of Haast Hokitika Gorge Otira Gorge Roaring Billy Falls Thunder Creek Falls
Glaciers	Agassiz Glacier Douglas Glacier Fox Glacier Franz Josef Glacier Garden of Eden Ice Plateau Olivine Ice Plateau Volta Glacier
Headlands	Abut Head Awarua Point Gillespies Point Knights Point
Islands	Open Bay Islands
Lakes and lagoons	Abel Lake Alpine Lake / Ata Puai Lake Ellery Lake Gault Lake Ianthe Lake Kaniere Lake Mahinapua Lake Mapourika Lake Matheson Lake Moeraki Ōkārito Lagoon Lake Paringa Saltwater Lagoon Lake Wahapo
Mountain ranges	Butler Range Southern Alps
Mountains	Mount Adams Aoraki / Mount Cook Mount Aspiring / Tititea Mount Brewster Mount Dampier Mount Graham Mount Haast Mount Hopkins La Perouse Lendenfeld Peak Mount Rolleston Mount Sefton Silberhorn Mount Tasman Mount Vancouver Mount Whitcombe
River flats	Pleasant Flat
Rivers	Adams River Arahura River Arawhata River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Bettne River Big Wainihinihi River Burke River Butler River Callery River Cascade River Clarke River Clearwater River Cook River / Weheka Copland River Cropp River Deception River Donald River Douglas River Drake River Duncan River Edison River Fork River Fox River Gorge River Gunn River Haast River Hacket River Hall River Hapuka River Harman River Hinatua River Hokitika River Hope River Jackson River Jerry River Kaniere River Karangarua River Kokatahi River Lambert River Landsborough River Lord River Macfarlane River Mahitahi River Jacobs River Manakaiaua River Maori River Martyr River Mikonui River Moeraki River Morse River Mueller River Mungo River Ngatau River North Barlow River Ohinemaka River Ōhinetamatea River Ōkārito River Okuru River Ōmoeroa River Oneone River Otehake River Ōtira River Ōtoko River Paringa River Perth River Poerua River Rolleston River Rotokino River Ruera River Ship Creek Smoothwater River Smyth River Spoon River Stafford River Strauchon River Styx River Taipo River Taramakau River Te Naihi River Te Rahotaiepa River Toaroha River Tōtara River Totarakaitorea River Troyte River Tuke River Turnbull River Waiatoto River Waiho River Waikūkūpa River Waipara River Waita River Waitaha River Waitangitāhuna River Waitangiroto River Wanganui River Whakaikai River Whakapohai River Whataroa River Whitcombe River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River