You can easily walk from the car park above McLaren Falls or drive into McLaren Falls Park. There is a good cafe after the entrance if you need a refill. But the park is one of the best of its type in NZ, and the time is better spent exploring.
The park is 190 hectares and runs mostly around the northeast side of Lake McLaren. It was established in the mid-1960s on what had been mostly grassland. Since then, extensive planting of native and exotic trees around the lake and wider park has occurred. There are also several walks, the main one being around the southeast edge of the lake.
There are also plenty of facilities for visitors and several camping areas.
Planting a wide range of trees is a particular feature of McLaren Falls Park. Several trails connect the lake to various other points of interest through groves of exotic trees and native NZ bush and forest. These range from a few minutes to a couple of hours.
The variety of trees does have the advantage of providing a range of seasonal experiences, from spring flowering through autumn colours to NZ evergreens. When we visited at the end of winter, magnolias were flowering. There are numerous places to settle in for a picnic and to camp around the various groves of trees.
