Mount Owen is in the Tasman district of the South Island of New Zealand. It stands at 1875 metres (5625 feet) above sea level and is part of the Marino Mountains.
There are a number of caves in the marble karst areas on the flanks of the mountain, including New Zealand's longest cave system, Bulmer Cavern, which run for 64 kilometres. Mount Owen lies within Kahurangi National Park. The Hope Saddle crosses its eastern flank.
Mount Owen featured briefly in the first of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. When the characters led by Aragorn leave Moria they emerge onto a rocky plateau. This was filmed on the slopes of Mount Owen.
Mount Owen is best accessed via Granity Pass. This generally involves a two day tramp staying overnight at Granity Pass Hut. It is possible to climb it in winter but care is needed over the karst area due to snow hiding sink holes.
Famous quotes containing the words mount and/or owen:
“For me chemistry represented an indefinite cloud of future potentialities which enveloped my life to come in black volutes torn by fiery flashes, like those which had hidden Mount Sinai. Like Moses, from that cloud I expected my law, the principle of order in me, around me, and in the world.... I would watch the buds swell in spring, the mica glint in the granite, my own hands, and I would say to myself: “I will understand this, too, I will understand everything.””
—Primo Levi (1919–1987)
“Pale flakes with fingering stealth come feeling for our faces—
We cringe in holes, back on forgotten dreams, and stare, snow-dazed,
Deep into grassier ditches.”
—Wilfred Owen (1893–1918)