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Film Locations

Movie locations

Deer Park Heights has been the location for several movies and numerous advertisements, most famously Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, ‘Wolverine’, Walt Disney movie’s ‘The Rescue’ and more recently ‘Pete’s Dragon’. The significant film locations for the Lord of the Rings were mostly for the second film, ‘The Two Towers’. See where these locations are below.

An excellent publication on Lord of the Rings locations by Ian Brodie can be purchased here.

BUT IN THE END IT’S ONLY A PASSING THING THIS SHADOW; EVEN DARKNESS MUST PASS

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the rings

Lord of the Rings

RIDER OF ROHAN | THE TWO TOWERS

LOTR 03

LOTR 03 is the first LOTR site you will find up Deer Park Heights. Just past the third cattle stop, you will see the green sign. Park safely off the side of the road and head towards the double gate. Through the gate, 120m on the left is the rock wall where Hama (a Rider of Rohan) sees and is killed by the warg scout.

LOTR 04

Turn left at the second feeding station (Frankton lookout) and head down the hill to find location LOTR 4. Hike up the hill to find where Legolas comes to the rescue, kills the warg and returns to the Rohans to warn them off the impending danger. The woman and children are left to continue to Helms deep, and the men move on to battle with the wargs.

LEGOLAS KILLS THE WARG | THE TWO TOWERS

PATHS OF THE DEAD | THE TWO TOWERS

LOTR 07

Continue backup up the road, and you will find yourself at location LOTR 7. They filmed the exit from the Paths of the Dead for The Return of the King. From here, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli see the corsair ships come in on the river.

LOTR 02

This part of the movie involved the Rohan refugees journey from Edoras to Helms Deep and their battle with the wargs and Orcs. The first scene was the beginning of the trek LOTR 1 with the Rohans moving around the eastern side of the mountain tarn. They camp by the second tarn LOTR 2 where there is a humorous moment when Gimli falls off his horse.

REFUGEE CAMP | THE TWO TOWERS

LEGOLAS SPOTS WARGS | THE TWO TOWERS

LOTR 05

At location LORT 5, Legolas spots the wargs in the distance and fires arrows at them. From behind him, Rohan soldiers came over the ridge and Legolas leaps on to a horse.

LOTR 06

LOTR 6 is where you will find Aragorn’s cliff. They ride into the battle of the wargs and Aragorn gets dragged over the cliff. In a later scene in the movie, the Rohans look over the cliff at Location 6 to look for Aragorn. The Kawarau River is superimposed under the cliffs.

WARG ATTACK & ARAGORN'S CLIFF | THE TWO TOWERS

RIDING TO MINAS TIRITH | RETURN OF THE KING

LOTR 01

Near the top of Deer Park Heights on the walking track, you will find Location LOTR1. A beautiful mountain tarn where in the second movie, several scenes show the people of Rohan braving the road from Edoras to Helm’s Deep. One of these scenes leads to location LOTR 2 where Gimli falls off his horse.

LOTR 03

RIDER OF ROHAN | THE TWO TOWERS

LOTR 03 is the first LOTR site you will find up Deer Park Heights. Just past the third cattle stop, you will see the green sign. Park safely off the side of the road and head towards the double gate. Through the gate, 120m on the left is the rock wall where Hama (a Rider of Rohan) sees and is killed by the warg scout.

LOTR 04

LEGOLAS KILLS THE WARG | THE TWO TOWERS

Turn left at the second feeding station (Frankton lookout) and head down the hill to find location LOTR 4. Hike up the hill to find where Legolas comes to the rescue, kills the warg and returns to the Rohans to warn them off the impending danger. The woman and children are left to continue to Helms deep, and the men move on to battle with the wargs.

LOTR 07

PATHS OF THE DEAD | THE TWO TOWERS

Continue backup up the road, and you will find yourself at location #7. They filmed the exit from the Paths of the Dead for The Return of the King. From here, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli see the corsair ships come in on the river.

LOTR 02

REFUGEE CAMP | THE TWO TOWERS

This part of the movie involved the Rohan refugees journey from Edoras to Helms Deep and their battle with the wargs and Orcs. The first scene was the beginning of the trek LOTR 1 with the Rohans moving around the eastern side of the mountain tarn. They camp by the second tarn LOTR 2 where there is a humorous moment when Gimli falls off his horse.

LOTR 05

LEGOLAS SPOTS WARGS | THE TWO TOWERS

At location LOTR 5, Legolas spots the wargs in the distance and fires arrows at them. From behind him, Rohan soldiers came over the ridge and Legolas leaps on to a horse.

L0TR 06

WARG ATTACK & ARAGORN'S CLIFF | THE TWO TOWERS

LOTR 6 is where you will find Aragorn’s cliff. They ride into the battle of the wargs and Aragorn gets dragged over the cliff. In a later scene in the movie, the Rohans look over the cliff at Location 6 to look for Aragorn. The Kawarau River is superimposed under the cliffs.

L0TR 01

RIDING TO MINAS TIRITH | THE TWO TOWERS

Near the top of Deer Park Heights on the walking track, you will find Location LOTR1. A beautiful mountain tarn where in the second movie, several scenes show the people of Rohan braving the road from Edoras to Helm’s Deep. One of these scenes leads to location LOTR 2 where Gimli falls off his horse.

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Our Animals

Scenery

Stags

The Stags in the enclosure are male Red Deers. The Stags impressive antlers are structures of display and are used for combat in the mating season. A Stags dominance is primarily determined on body size and antler size. Stags have an annual growth cycle of antlers which starts in spring and can grow up to 2cm a day. At the end of the rutting season (autumn) the antlers drop off, and they develop a new pair of antlers every year from bony outgrowths called pedicles at the top of the skull. Do not attempt to feed or approach these animals. 

Stags

The Stags in the enclosure are male Red Deers. The Stags impressive antlers are structures of display and are used for combat in the mating season. A Stags dominance is primarily determined on body size and antler size. Stags have an annual growth cycle of antlers which starts in spring and can grow up to 2cm a day. At the end of the rutting season (autumn) the antlers drop off, and they develop a new pair of antlers every year from bony outgrowths called pedicles at the top of the skull. Do not attempt to feed or approach these animals. 

Donkeys

Donkeys are the friendliest of our mammals at Deer Park, they love sheep nuts and a scratch on the head. You may see a family of Donkeys as well as some larger horses which are Mules. The Mules are a mixture of a Miniature horse and Donkey, the perfect mix! Donkeys are known for their intelligence. A donkey will stop and assess a new situation and think about its choices before making a decision on what action to take. These Donkeys are very friendly and will let you feed them by hand.