The Kaikoura Ranges are two parallel ranges of mountains in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Formed along New Zealand's Marlborough Fault System, they can be seen as the northernmost extension of the Southern Alps in the South Island.
Named the Looker-on mountains, by Captain James Cook, they take their name from the town of Kaikoura at the southern extreme of the more eastern range, the Seaward Kaikouras. This range rises straight from (and dominates) the coast to the north of the town, and reaches its highest point with the 2610-metre Mount Manakau.
The long straight river valley of the Clarence River separate the Seaward Kaikouras from the longer and loftier Inland Kaikouras. This latter range contains the highest peak in the ranges, the 2880-metre Tapuae-o-Uenuku, the translation from the Maori of which is the poetic "Footprint of the rainbow". Beyond the Inland Kaikouras is the valley of the Awatere River, which runs parallel to that of the Clarence.
The two ranges are visible from a great distance, including from the southern coast of the North Island.