The Manawatū River Loop and estuary creates an environment that features walkways and Ramsar wetlands with 93 species of birds.

[4] The 50 or so flax mills that once operated in Foxton's vicinity slowly disappeared before WWII, while the Feltex carpet factory closed in 2008,[5] causing unemployment.

A Cultural Park includes a Dutch windmill, a Māori carving workshop and the Flax Stripper Museum.

- while the multi-cultural community and visitor hub Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom,[11] attracts some 150,000 users through its doors annually.

[12] The Piriharakeke[13] and Oranjehof[14] museums, a gallery, and exhibitions enable visitors to reflect on their own heritage and family’s roots.

The multi-cultural and multi-lingual Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom reflects diversity, and offers learning spaces through its library, heritage room and children's area with educational toys.

[17] When Paiaka was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1855 the settlers moved downstream to Te Awahou,[17] which was named "Foxton" from 1866.

[19][20] In the early years of European settlement it was an important trading post and shipping port as the sea was the easiest way to transport goods and people to the Manawatū.

Foxton was named after Sir William Fox, and has a history of flax stripping, which was used to make wool packs, matting and rope.

The town is known for producing the soda drink Foxton Fizz,[21] which commenced operation at 8 Whyte Street in 1918 although the products are now made in Putāruru.

[23] When this line opened in 1886, Foxton's status as a port slipped, and this position deteriorated further when the WMR was incorporated into the government's national rail network in 1908.

[25] The late 1880s saw a short-lived flax boom that briefly allowed Foxton to once again grow and function as a bustling port.

[25] Deforestation of the inland Manawatū District in the late nineteenth century meant increased flooding and led to the creation of stopbanks, floodgates, and the Whirokino Cut.

[18] Completed in 1943 as part of the Lower Manawatu Flood Control Scheme, it was intended as a spillway but an unexpected flood broke through the upper end and diverted the river down the spillway, cutting off the Foxton loop of the river and causing great outcry at the time.

[27] Though the Whirokino Cut is sometimes claimed as the reason Foxton failed to operate as a port, the dangerous bar and persistent silting were already providing problems and by the time the Cut was in place most shipping was already avoiding Foxton – it had already ceased to function as a port as early as 1942.

[32] The area is sand country with a temperate climate, average monthly temperatures ranging from 8 °C (July) to 17.4 °C (January), with a minimum/maximum of −4 °C to 27 °C.

The town is served by three InterCity buses a day[35] and a commuter bus runs to Palmerston North at 7:05 am, returning at 5:20 pm.

This working Stellingmolen windmill produces stone-ground flour, which can be purchased inside the mill's Dutch Deli.

Visitors can climb up three floors, to witness the wooden mechanical workings of the mill in action - examples of traditional Dutch 17th Century engineering.

The miller sets the blades in motion on windy days, and is available for tours to explain the history of milling, or for a more casual conversation.

It's located in authentic restored movie theatre, first opened as the Coronation Hall in 1911, was exhibits the development of audiovisual technology.