Mavora Lakes Campsite sits in the Mavora Lakes Conservation Park, deep in the Southland high country among beech forest and tussock-covered mountains. There are two main standard camping areas: one alongside South Mavora Lake, and another on the strip between South Mavora Lake and North Mavora Lake. It's a spacious, popular spot with plenty of room and sought-after lakeside sites, and the mountain scenery here is hard to beat.

Facilities are basic but useful, including non-flush toilets, a BBQ, fire pits for campfires (except during fire bans), and a tap water supply that's untreated, so boil before drinking. There's also a boat launch on the lake.

Beyond the campsite, good 4x4 tracks lead around the lake edge and further into the mountains toward backcountry huts, with some technical sections to keep things interesting. The route on toward Walter Peak via Mt Nicholas Road passes an old stone house that makes a great lunch spot. Watch out for cyclists along the way, and don't count on finding a coffee at Walter Peak.