Hawarden is a small town in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.

From 15 December 1884 until 15 January 1978, the town was served by the Waiau Branch, a branch line railway that at one stage was planned to become the Main North Line to Nelson and Blenheim.

Hawarden is described by Statistics New Zealand as a rural settlement and covers 0.67 km2 (0.26 sq mi).

Hawarden is part of the larger Upper Hurunui statistical area.

[5] Before the 2023 census, the settlement had a larger boundary, covering 0.98 km2 (0.38 sq mi).

[6] Upper Hurunui, which includes Hawarden and Waikari, covers 1,004.96 km2 (388.02 sq mi).

[8] Hurunui College is a co-educational state area school for Year 1 to 13 students,[9][10] with a roll of 204 as of November 2024.