About Us

Camp History

From a forestry camp to a home for everyone

Hanmer Springs Forest Camp has been part of this valley for over 70 years. What began as a base for forestry workers has grown, through decades of volunteer effort, into one of the South Island’s most loved camp and accommodation sites — built by a community that still runs it today.

Our story

Seven decades in the forest

Early 1950s

A Forest Service beginning

The camp was established as a New Zealand Forest Service single men’s camp, originally serving as the base for the NZ Forest Service timber treatment plant.

1977

A Trust is formed

When the Forest Service ceased operations on the site, local residents and the Rotary Club of Papanui formed a Trust. For a peppercorn rental, they agreed to manage the site and develop the buildings for recreational, educational and environmental use.

1979

The first school camp

The newly formed Hanmer Springs Forest Camp Trust fundraised to make the buildings habitable as a school camp. St Marks School became the very first group to use the site — with the committee doing everything themselves, from building and sewing to cleaning and taking bookings.

1986 & 2006

Abilities Lodge is built

Purpose-built for people with disabilities, the Abilities Lodge was refurbished in 2006 and later joined by two Self-Contained Units — making the site a unique accommodation offering for the South Island.

2002

Ensor Lodge opens

As more schools and groups arrived, the Trust built the multi-cabin Ensor Lodge, with a mix of family-style cabins and bunk rooms — most easily accessed by wheelchair, with two disability toilet/shower rooms included by design.

Run by the community

A Board that still gives back

Hanmer Springs Forest Camp is still run today by a Board of Trustees, a mixture of Hanmer residents and Christchurch locals who share a common vision for the camp. The Board meets every two months to oversee the running of the site and manage new projects.

  • Volunteer-led since 1977, with a Board that meets every two months
  • Facilities purpose-built and expanded with accessibility in mind
  • Always open to new trustees, volunteers, and visitors keen to see what we do
From the archives

Rosemary's History: the story behind the story

Long-serving trustee Rosemary Ensor has spent years gathering a full written history of the camp — a book built from board minutes, newspaper clippings, and firsthand memories sent in by nearly every manager and volunteer who has worked here since 1977. It runs to dozens of pages; here are the highlights.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

Handed over by the Forest Service

This aerial shot shows the camp as the Trust first found it in 1977 — rows of single men’s huts, an ablution block, and the old timber treatment plant, all handed over for a peppercorn rent by the NZ Forest Service.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

A Governor General opens the camp

Governor General Sir David Beattie officially opened the camp on 28 April 1982. Hanmer Springs schoolchildren walked the 3km there and back for the occasion — and the school even adopted the camp’s pine-tree logo for itself.

The year the camp closed

By the early 1990s the camp was thriving — until 1 April 1993, when the Department of Health closed it overnight. Pentachlorophenol, a chemical used decades earlier in the old timber treatment process, had been detected in the soil. Schools were sent home mid-booking, the manager’s family had to leave, and the site sat fenced and empty for a year while the Ministry for the Environment carried out a full decontamination. The clean-up cost the Trust roughly $200,000 against a $25,000 government contribution — but board members rolled up their sleeves once again, and the camp reopened with a clean bill of health.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

Abilities Lodge, 1986

Funded by Papanui Rotary’s working bees and fundraisers, Abilities Lodge was completed debt-free in 1986 and opened by Olympic wheelchair champion Neroli Fairhall — purpose-built accommodation still unique in the South Island.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

Ensor Lodge, 2002

After eight years of planning, 36 ageing single-men’s huts were auctioned off and towed away to make room for Ensor Lodge — 24 new rooms sleeping 108, opened by Governor General Dame Sylvia Cartwright.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

Decades of Rotary support

The Rotary Club of Papanui has been part of the camp since 1977 — running working bees, funding Abilities Lodge, building the wheelchair-friendly Centennial Trail, and installing the children’s playground.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

Memorable visitors

Over the years the camp has hosted an RNZAF helicopter crew on a training stopover, the Crusaders on pre-season camp, a Harley Davidson group 100-strong, and — one frosty morning — a Molesworth bull staring in the manager’s window.

Behind every milestone are the people who kept the camp running: a long line of managers and their families — the Bygates, the Streets, the van Wijks, the Brodies, the McKenzies, the Meaclems, the Knights and more — plus generations of board members and volunteers who painted, gardened, fundraised, and occasionally rescued a frozen water pipe at 4am. Rosemary Ensor has been a constant presence through nearly all of it.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

The Trust today

The camp is still run by a volunteer Board of Trustees — pictured here in 2025 — carrying on the same community spirit the original committee started back in 1977.

Ensor Lodge Hanmer Forest Camp

Ensor Lodge, 2002

From a single men’s forestry camp to a much-loved home for school groups, families and community events — set, as ever, in the forest that gives it its name.

Want to be part of the story?

We’re always happy to hear from future trustees, volunteers, or anyone keen to come see what we do.

Contact our team
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