The park was first established in 1942 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Abel Tasman's 1642 visit in New Zealand, when he became the first European to sight the islands.

It has since been progressively expanded from its original borders, the most recent of which involved the addition of 7 hectares (17 acres) in Awaroa Inlet after a successful crowdfunding campaign.

[4] The park was founded in 1942, largely through the efforts of ornithologist and author Pérrine Moncrieff to have land reserved for the purpose.

[6] Those in attendance at the opening ceremony at Tarakohe included Charles van der Plas, as personal representative of the Netherlands' Queen, Wilhelmina.

[8] The Golden Bay Cement Company donated the land where the Abel Tasman Monument and a memorial plaque was sited.

[6] The area's primary historic interest was the visit of Tasman in 1642, D'Urville in 1827, and the New Zealand Company barques Whitby and Will Watch, and brig Arrow in 1841.

A further 844 hectares (2,085 acres) at Tōtaranui, formerly owned by William Gibbs, was acquired from J S Campbell in 1949 and added to the park.

In 2008 an extra 7.9 km2 (790 ha; 3.1 sq mi), including the formerly private land known as Hadfields Clearing, were added to the park.

[15] The park contains varied habitats, including coastal forests, sub-alpine bogs, and sand dunes.

[2] Though much of the parkland is pasture or covered with shrubs, valley areas contain forests of rātā, mataī, miro and hinau.

The Department of Conservation and Project Janszoon developed a free virtual visitor centre for downloading to smartphones or tablets.

The application provides information about the Park's history, its flora and fauna, points of interest, weather, walking tracks, and tides.